An organization’s company culture is something that every employee looks at. People look for a positive, healthy work environment to come to work every day.
Initially, an organization should understand their values and what they want their culture to be; the image they want to share of themselves to others and what they need to do in order to achieve or maintain that image.
Establishing this ahead of time as well as values and company goals will set up your business for success.
Have you worked at a corporation in which they didn’t care about your development, didn’t recognize your good performance but only paid attention when you did not perform well? Most of these businesses typically just use employees as a resource and don’t necessarily value employees’ contributions.
Companies that want to support their employees, encourage leadership in their employees, and strive for their employees to be productive, have a well-developed company culture that is positive and encourages employees to take the initiative for their own success!
Businesses with well-developed company culture are more likely to succeed and have happier employees.
If you are looking for ways to improve your company culture, consider taking the following actions:
Employees look for honesty and direct communication with employers. When you work with many people, conflicts can arise from time to time which is why developing trust is important. When employees trust the company they work for, they are more likely to look for finding a solution and speaking up when necessary. Of course, certain conflicts and things like employee performance reviews, salaries, and other sensitive topics should be kept private, but the idea is to create just the right amount of transparency in which employees feel comfortable.
Marketing expert and online kitchen and bath renovator Wesley Ward states “When there’s trust in an organization, employee productivity improves and it is highly noticeable. In order to grow trust from your employees, make sure you are being open about plans and decisions for the future of the company”. Sharing things such as company performance and keeping employees updated with what goes on within the business, helps maintain that confidence that you want to have with your employees.
Transparency is highly important especially when big changes are being made within the company or a specific department. When the company is significantly growing or perhaps struggling, employees should be communicated of any changes that may affect their job role in any way.
Healthy company culture is one that recognizes their employee’s dedication and well performance. When employees are recognized for their work, they will keep performing the way they do. It can be small gestures such as naming someone an employee of the month, the top performer of the department, a simple shoutout at a meeting, etc. Giving your employees feedback on their performance is something every employer should do.
Sacha Ferrandi; real estate expert claims “When employees are encouraged to work with each other, it creates a healthy work environment all around. There are many work environments in which employees never communicate with each other which creates a hostile environment. Collaborative company culture helps employees interact with one another in order to accomplish their goals, making productivity run smoother”.
Try to create situations where employees need to work on collaboration and teamwork. It could be a work project, having company chat rooms such as Slack to facilitate employee communication on a day to day basis, or perhaps having a team event out of the office. A great way to improve company culture is to add some fun for your employees. Consider doing things such as a team game night across departments, a picnic, a night of bowling, or even a trip to a local sports game. You can always find team building activities that won’t necessarily cost you much but are worth having. When employees are in a different scenario rather than the office, they are more likely to talk to people who perhaps they didn’t have the chance to do so. Employees who work with colleagues they like and have something in common with are more likely to work better with one another.
Employees want to feel like their opinion matters and that their voice is being heard. Always try to keep employees involved with any changes or big announcements you might have. Having department meetings or company wide meetings on a consecutive basis will allow you to keep that employee relationship strong and build more loyalty with your employees. Employees should be able to share thoughts and ideas without hesitation.
CEO himself and RFID wristbands manufacturer Jeff Arnett shares “Ask your employees for feedback on how they think the company culture is doing, if there are any issues they should bring to attention, ways the company can improve, etc. Consider creating and sending anonymous company surveys to help you gain employee feedback. This can be done online through HR or a survey service like Survey Monkey. The important thing is that the feedback is anonymous”. Obtaining employee feedback can also help you prevent problems from arising. Understanding how employees truly feel about the business and making the effort to improve will show you care about what your employees have to say and help you retain employees.
Another way to improve your company culture is to make sure you are hiring the right people. When bringing on new employees, be very selective of who you want to bring onboard. Try to communicate your company values and culture during the interview to see their response and if they are a fit for your company. A first impression from the right candidate will demonstrate excitement and relate to your overall mission.
To facilitate your hiring process and attract the right kind of talent, consider creating a very detailed job description. Make sure that not only are you mentioning the job responsibilities itself but that you are including the right kind of employee you are looking for, what your company looks for in an individual and what their mindset should be.
About the author:
Karina Mojica is a contributor editor for 365 Business Tips. From sunny Los Angeles, California State University Dominguez Hills she made her way back home to beautiful San Diego. She has a degree in Marketing, with experience in PR, and social media marketing.