5 Benefits of an Unconventional Workplace Organizations should be unconventionally conscious of and open to defining their culture based on the universal good of contemporary times

What makes an organization unconventional? Are flexibility and non-traditional management and workspaces sufficient to make an organization unconventional? Or is it what the organization stands for and the manner in which it contributes to society the cornerstone of its uniqueness? While unconventional organizations may have chosen an offbeat path to earn their living, I'll help you see how this path is far from obscure and can be tread without anxiety.

So, let's tour the landscape of the 5 main benefits of an unconventional workplace:

• Greater employee retention

Changes in the choices of millennials have brought with them new hiring challenges. Recruiting the right people is no longer the only challenge faced by organizations, and employee retention poses larger questions. Moreover, job satisfaction is emerging as an important consideration in addition to an attractive compensation package and perks. Unconventional organizations allow employees to work out of the convenience of their homes or a café and yet be productive. Allowing employees to be rid of the daily chagrins of travelling so that they may devote time to their personal lives and pursuits can impact employees' sense of accomplishment tremendously. So naturally, an unconventional workplace accommodates different work structures and makes employees feel valued by developing a sense of belongingness and loyalty to the organization beyond its physical premises.

• Enhanced employee wellbeing and productivity

A professional environment is multidimensional. Unconventional workplaces transform various infrastructural elements such as the size of a cubical and colour schemes used in bays to allow employees to enhance their thought process. It is well known that a rigid workplace can influence the mental health of employees negatively. Rigidity hurts attention spans, productivity, creative thinking, and, ultimately, satisfaction at work, creating a "mental iceberg'. The belief that flexibility decreases productivity is archaic. Contrastingly, flexibility encourages employee wellbeing by fostering creativity and productivity through channels such as infrastructure and management. Healthy employees make a healthy workforce, which in turn creates a healthy organization.

• Higher employee motivation

The unconventional workplace boosts employee motivation and morale through unconventional means. Over the last decade, as conventional practices have been shown the door, the definition of motivation has changed too. In addition to incentive-based motivation, the concept of self-motivated and confident employees has gained popularity. This concept is rooted in creating a sense of identity among employees. One determined employee with a sense of accomplishment of personal and professional goals is far more impactful and productive than those motivated by incentive or recognition. A shift from conventional organizational goals helps in creating that identity by blending personal and professional growth. An employee must believe that an organization's objectives and subsequent benefits are "their own' rather than those of solely the organization.

• Greater transparency

A good unconventional workplace is also a democratic one. Employees will relate to organizational objectives and goals as their own if they believe that the organization represents them. Unconventional organizations are often successful in representing their employees when they listen and adapt to employees' needs and sense of purpose. This can only happen if the org structure and change management processes are democratic and transparent, in stark contrast to the structures and processes of an undemocratic organization, which are opaque and unilateral.

• Richer diversity and representation

Flexibility, freedom, creativity, fun, trust, and an employee-driven culture establish the identity of an unconventional organization. But an unconventional workplace is also a progressive one. It facilities gender equality by creating avenues for the economic empowerment of women, without requiring them to give up on facetime with their families. It's conscious of employees' sentiments towards matters such as gender equality and environmental sustainability and adapts itself to match its employees changing socioeconomic views and circumstances. This makes the workplace an extension of an employee's identity, such that what they stand for is not just relevant in their personal lives but also their professional lives. This can only happen if an organization is unconventionally conscious of and open to defining its culture based on the universal good of contemporary times, which may be close to the hearts of its employees.