By Dipti Joshi Vidwansa

 When I started with Fresh Gravity, my colleagues and I had one thing in common: We wanted to build or work for a place that really differentiates itself on many levels – an organization that by all means was ours. We talked about so many things — passion, commitment, openness, integrity. In short everyone was talking about having a great culture.

Culture can be looked at as “a way of life of a group of people–the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.”  That same definition can be extended to a company culture – however, I would say a lot of thinking goes into really defining what and how a company culture should be. And more than just defining it, every decision, step or action should be in line with what you define as the culture. Company vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits – are what I would say define a global company culture, and a strong company culture is critical for business and in turn an individual’s success. A world class workplace culture has moved beyond being a “nice to have.”  We need to continually invest in our culture just as we would invest in any other asset of the organization.

Many say that the culture cannot be engineered – it just happens. However, there are ways to influence it in a positive way. The most critical thing, I would think, starts with your beliefs – what you and all those who are part of your organization believe. Our beliefs, our core values and our common cause define the very essence of our culture.

At Fresh Gravity we all believe in having a positive workplace where there is no room for those who only complain. If you have a complaint, you come up with a solution to it. If you have a doubt, you express it. If you can’t commit, be upfront about it. We care for individuals – our team, our customers and our vendors. Happy team, happy customers is our mantra. At its core, culture is about what is valued. For us it all revolves around our 7 core values:

Passion — We are all passionate about work and life. We solve problems not because we have to, but because we are passionate about what we do.

Integrity — We do what is right for our customers’ business.

Openness — Integrity fails and passion is thwarted without healthy, open channels of communication. We challenge our whole team to be open and frank and to trust that an  honest but uncomfortable truth trumps everything else.

Respect — Respect yourself and respect others. Yes, we have a business to run and have to make tough decisions, but we will do whatever we can to make sure that we treat everyone fairly and with respect.

Diligence — Execution fails without diligence — and we direct that focus on the smallest detail. We know what we need to do and we do it with persistence.

Empowerment — Our employees are expected to speak their minds, improvise solutions, and guide our clients with their own personal experience and expertise. Everyone is free, trusted, and encouraged to make decisions and call for changes that are required to do things right for our customers.

Adaptability — One of our most critical assets is our ability to learn new skills, spot technology changes on the horizon, and guide our clients forward with improved methods. We have a track record of adapting to changes and we bring that nimbleness of mind, vision and practice to everything we do.

All of this defines what we are – culturally!