What Does Your Workplace Design Say About Your Company Culture?

A company’s culture should be detectable—if not downright palpable—from the look, feel and overall operations of its workplace. There are countless ways design can reinforce a company’s culture. This is why SHP would never consider designing a workplace without first knowing the culture it’s intended to enable, enrich and propel forward.

While company cultures consist of many elements and vary greatly, each can be summarized thusly: The collective understanding of what is the right and good thing to do at work. At SHP, we believe that your workplace design can, and should, reinforce the behaviors that reflect—and sustain—your culture.

Much of what most company cultures used to consider right and good—for example, people are most productive when at their desks—has changed. New understandings of what is right and good have evolved, while still newer ideas will continue to emerge. Smart workplace design can support your culture today and be flexible enough to change as your culture evolves.

One of the first things we do when designing a workplace is help our clients determine the cultural attributes necessary to drive the work behaviors and bottom-line results they seek. We utilize the Competing Values Cultural Assessment, considered one of 50 top models in the history of business. We know how to apply this tool in a manner that our clients find not only revealing, but also helpful and inspiring.

If it’s time to evaluate how a new or renovated workplace can help better reflect and promote your company’s culture, we should talk.