A Recipe for a Healthy Corporate Culture: How Not to Spoil the "Old-Timers"?
Hello, colleagues and blog readers!
Since January, I have been running a column on safety culture in the Gazprom Pererabotka Profsoyuz Telegram channel.
Today I want to share perhaps the most interesting topic — a recipe for a healthy corporate culture. The material turned out to be quite large, so I am publishing it in two parts.
So, part one. How to "pickle" a newcomer without spoiling the "old-timers"?
Imagine a jar of pickles. Inside are the well-brined old-timers who have already absorbed all the traditions and rules. And now, a fresh, crunchy, but completely unpickled newcomer is dropped in.
What will happen? If the brine is good, the newcomer will successfully "marinate." But if you shake the jar (constant stress) or add the wrong kind of cucumber (poor candidate selection) — the rest might rebel!
It is the same story with a team: new employees must blend in organically, and experienced ones should not resist healthy changes.
The recipe for the perfect corporate starter culture: three key ingredients
For your "pickle team" to turn out perfectly, you will need:
- Strong brine (strong corporate culture). These are not just words on a wall, but real values, traditions, and rules. A weak brine is when newcomers are not introduced to the team, and old-timers live by myths about the "past." The result is a toxic atmosphere and difficult adaptation. A strong culture is when everyone understands the common goals, the team supports each other, and habits include shared lunches and celebrations. This is the very brine that creates cohesion.
- Right temperature (healthy atmosphere). If it is too "hot" (micromanagement and stress), the "pickles" become soft and lose their crunch. If it is too "cold" (indifference and chaos), the "pickling" process drags on indefinitely.
- Time (well-thought-out adaptation). No one becomes a "pickle" in one day. You need to give the newcomer time to absorb the rules, but at the same time, do not leave them alone in the "brine."
In the next part, we will discuss how to apply this recipe in practice and avoid losing newcomers.
Take care of yourselves and each other! May your work always be safe!