10 Signs Your Company Culture is Crumbling

10 Signs Your Culture is Crumbling

You carefully crafted the perfect culture when you first started your small business. But now, something seems wrong. If that sounds like your small business, keep reading to find 10 signs that your culture is falling apart.

1. It’s too quiet

There’s usually a constant hum in the office – people are talking to each other, laughing, sharing ideas. But now, it’s eerily quiet. You can even hear a pin drop. If your employees are emailing each other instead of talking face-to-face, there’s likely a pretty big problem.

2. Employees are pointing fingers

Mistakes happen. But, in a healthy work environment, everyone realizes that one person didn’t cause these mistakes, so everyone involved will share the blame. In a crumbling culture, however, your employees will start to point fingers at each other because no one is willing to step up and take responsibility.

3. The office is gross

If your employees are happy, they’re going to take pride in their workspaces – they’ll pick up after themselves and keep their desks neat or tidy up at the end of the day. But, if your employees are unhappy, they won’t pick up after themselves, so your office will get pretty dirty.

4. No one volunteers for new responsibilities

If your employees are happy working for you, they’ll probably jump for a chance to take on some more responsibility – like working on the latest project or picking up an extra shift here and there. In a crumbling culture, however, no one wants to do more than they have to. Maybe, they’re looking for new jobs, so they don’t want to start something that they won’t be able to finish.

5. The breakroom is deserted

If everyone used to eat lunch together or get together in the breakroom for coffee breaks, but now no one is ever in the breakroom, your company might be experiencing some serious problems. There’s a good chance your employees are trying to avoid each other.

6. No one gets personal

Maybe there’s still a constant hum in the office, but if you listen carefully, you notice that no one is talking about anything personal. They’re only talking about work, or they’re discussing how much they hate their job, their boss, or even your customers.

7. People are leaving

People leave jobs for perfectly valid reasons –their spouse got their dream job in another town, or they want to stay home fulltime with their kids. But, if your employees keep leaving to take other positions, it’s time to start figuring out what’s wrong.

Read also: How to Prevent Good Employees from Leaving

8. Nobody talks to you

If people have problems with how work is going, they should feel comfortable talking to you or their boss about it. If no one is talking to you about their problems, they might be afraid of you. Or, they think nothing’s going to change, so it’s not worth the effort of reporting the issue.

Read also: 7 Tips for Creating a Feedback-Rich Culture

9. Everyone works super late

Sometimes, your employees will have to work late to finish up a project or to tie up loose ends before going on vacation. But, if everyone is working late all the time, it’s probably because of their work environment. Take a look at how work is assigned – are you setting unrealistic goals? If there’s no way anyone can get everything done during the workday, consider breaking up projects into smaller pieces or hiring some more team members.

10. Everyone leaves right at quitting time

The reverse is also a sign of a big problem – if everyone sprints out the door as soon as the clock strikes 5 PM. Likely, everyone is counting down to the end of the day – just waiting to get out of there. In a healthy culture, your employees will meander out the door as they’re chatting with coworkers or making plans to grab a drink.

If your small business is experiencing any of these problems, don’t panic. Learn five easy ways you can improve your company culture.

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