If you want your employees to work to the best of their abilities, then you need to focus on building a positive company culture. To the uninitiated, company culture encompasses the behaviors, attitudes, and company policies that all contribute to the overall environment in a workplace.
Although many business owners overlook the importance of company culture, it has the potential to completely transform the way in which you operate and the success of your business.
Read on to discover 7 ways to improve company culture in your workplace and ensure your employees are happy and engaged with your brand.
- Establish a purpose
The first thing you need to do if you want to make sure your employees are content and feel invested in your business is to establish a purpose.
There are several ways that you can do this, such as:
- Posting your company mission statement
- Communicating your company’s core values
- Setting clear expectations for each member of staff
- Holding regular departmental meetings to discuss and share progress
- Focus on communication
One of the simplest ways to improve company culture is by making sure that the communication between managers and employees is open and forthcoming. A lack of communication in the workplace can cause a whole host of issues, including resentment, fear, and low morale. It can also cause employees to feel disengaged and undervalued.
To improve communication in your workplace:
- Set up a feedback system
- Have regular 1-1s with your employees
- Have an open-door policy
- Encourage cross-department collaboration
- Organize team bonding events
Although team-building days can feel a little bit forced, there are several other things that you can do to make to foster relationships and improve company culture. You might, for instance, organize a company festival. From artisan bars and restaurants and spas, complete with fireworks, hot tubs, and champagne breakfasts, your employees can bond in more relaxed circumstances; you could even make it an overnight experience and enjoy the luxurious glamping pods. It could also be a great opportunity to develop further relationships with clients or your target audience.
If you are not sure what type of activities your employees would like best, why not just ask them? They might love the idea of the festival but hate the idea of doing a sports day, for instance.
- Reward hard work
If you want your employees to feel valued, then you need to make sure that you are rewarding them when they go above and beyond or when they turn in good work.
A reward doesn’t have to be monetary. Sometimes verbal recognition in front of the entire team is all someone needs to feel like their hard work is appreciated.
Other ways in which you can reward excellence include:
- An afternoon off
- A lunch out with a colleague or manager
- A massage voucher or other well-being treat
- Encourage mentoring
Mentoring is a highly effective technique for supporting less experienced employees and can signal to the entire workplace that you are invested in your team’s professional development.
It can also help to make more senior members of staff feel more valued and can attract a high caliber of new candidates.
To make the most out of a mentoring scheme, you should pair mentors with new employees that are in the same department and provide training for mentoring for new employees – remember, not all employees will know how to effectively mentor another employee, even if they know their stuff inside and out.
- Be transparent
If you want your employees to feel invested in your business and be more productive, then you need to make sure that they feel fully involved in the company and its future. One of the best ways to achieve this is by being completely transparent with all aspects of the business, including the company’s policies and procedures, the direction you are planning to take the business, salaries, and management expectations.
- Lead by example
As a manager, it is your responsibility to articulate your company’s values, and the best way to do this is by leading by example. Think about it this way. If you ask your employees to act a certain way, but you are not acting this way yourself, how can they be expected to trust you or listen to your directions?
However, when you lead by example, your employees will be able to see the positive effects of specific actions and become more aware of why they need to act a certain way.
Some of the other benefits of leading by example include:
- Increased trust
- Greater employee morale
- Increased productivity
The bottom line
Investing in company culture can benefit both you as a business owner and your employees. With the ability to create a happy, engaged, and productive workforce, you may be surprised at just how much difference a few changes can make to how your business operates and how successful it is able to be.
