Your company’s culture and environment have a strong effect on how well the company performs. The company culture directly influences employees‘ attitudes and practices every day. It evolves with or without active effort on your part; hence, it is best to determine the qualities you wish to instill in your work environment based on your vision for the company.

Studies prove that the majority of employees in a company tend to adopt the same characteristics and styles. Influence comes instinctively when spending the majority of the day with your co-workers.

Dissatisfied and discouraged employees will be disinclined for optimal productivity. This is bad for both employers and employees. Disengaged employees may show up to work but they lack the enthusiasm and energy necessary to thrive. Furthermore, such employees are pervasive yet not actively disengaged, which can be especially harmful to a company. Nevertheless, it is this lack of engagement that really hinders organisations. It also impacts the ability for employees to thrive. Without thriving employees, companies cannot bring about the innovation and creative problem solving required in today’s competitive world.

As we look for the common denominator of successful companies, a culture-shaping strategy is always a key factor. The workplace should not be something that people dread every day. Employees should look forward to going to their jobs. Jobs shouldn’t provoke stress in employees. While the work may be difficult, the culture shouldn’t add to the stress of work. On the contrary, the culture should be designed to alleviate the work related stress.

This is why culture matters. Culture sustains employee enthusiasm. That is what we work hard on at Tipico. We try to embrace a collaborative and enjoyable experience amongst employees and partners by creating fun and exciting experiences.

Strategies are easy to draft but not as easy to implement. Having a total of approximately 500 global employees, this is a regular challenge to rise to. A healthy degree of optimism, self-confidence and openness, along with an adventurous spirit, turn challenges into opportunities. We believe that these are the fundamental characteristics of excellence.

Challenges are even more puzzling when having over 30 nationals in a single workplace of just over 200 employees; this is the setting of the office in Malta. One critical piece of the puzzle is frequently titled as diversity. As much as we have learned the importance of diversity in the workplace, it is often focused on gender, race and ethnicity. Taught diversity is subtler but just as important. We believe that embracing diversity is the ability to truly connect and collaborate with others while solving the most challenging problems. Diversity at work is vital as it enables out-of-the-box thinking to bring about creative solutions to 21st century challenges. When people are actively encouraged to present different perspectives and ideas to challenge assumptions and the status quo, one will see new insights, innovation, collaboration and the very best of teamwork.

Much as the influence of employees, culture is also influenced by the founders, executives and other managerial staff in their role to make effective decisions and give strategic direction. David Novak, a very successful entrepreneur and a remarkable leader in corporate culture, once said ‘Every leader cast a show, so be aware of the fact that people do what you do’.

At Tipico, we have identified a number of mechanisms that help us create the condition for thriving employees. We believe in a transparent and innovative culture that awards intelligence and courage in an environment where team effort and passion excel. These principals help our employees to feel empowered, knowledgeable, comfortable and self-aware.

Thriving employees need to feel that their contribution is making a positive difference, directly influencing the company’s results. Furthermore, they should feel free to speak openly even when they disagree with the status quo, while they are able to continue learning and growing in their career.

A thriving workplace is one where both organisations and their employees take responsibility. This partnership is mutually beneficial. Companies can attract and retain top talent with increasing profitability, while employees are more satisfied, encouraged and inclined to be optimally productive. A thriving workplace is always a win-win and this is how we continuously aim to keep it at Tipico.