Improving your company culture is an important step toward enhancing productivity and worker satisfaction. It can provide an unexpected improvement in business performance. When a company makes serious steps toward a coherent and sincere culture, it can get the best work out of its employees while retaining its prosperity.
Company culture is a representation of the organization’s values and commitments. The atmosphere in which the employees work, the ways in which goals are set, and the way employees are treated are three of the most important aspects of company culture.
A company’s culture also has a strong impact on its branding. If a company is known to be hard on its employees and to set unattainable goals, that will negatively affect its branding.
The consulting firm POWERS has a strong belief in the importance of company culture. The following are eight steps that POWERS believes any company can use to enhance their culture and to become more effective in their line of work.
1. Make People Want to Come to Work
One sign that a company has a positive culture is that employees do not dread coming to work. They know that they will be fairly treated, and they know that their contributions will be respected.
Positive company culture is a magnet for talented employees who want to have a calmer and more relaxed work atmosphere. Every company needs these high-talent individuals, and it is in a company’s best interest to make sure these people are happy.
When these employees are content, they perform much better and turn over less frequently. Employee turnover is expensive and causes a great deal of lost time for department heads and human resources professionals.
2. Establish Clear Goals and Values
Companies with positive cultures establish clear values and goals for themselves. These values could include honesty, integrity, and excellent customer service. The company may wish to achieve numerical goals or more abstract goals. In general, it is better to avoid setting specific numerical goals but to focus on improvement across all measures of performance.
Employees need to know what is expected of them. For the employees’ sake, avoid making their goals a moving target. If goals are constantly changing, it could be a sign that the company is not well-managed.
To achieve the maximum benefit from these goals and values, they should be set ahead of time and communicated definitively.
3. Flexibility
Flexibility is key when it comes to constructing a positive company culture. Traditional companies treat their employees like cogs in a machine. They expect them to always observe regular working hours and expect them to stay in their desk areas all day.
This can be a problem for young employees, who are interested in having leisure and artistic freedom. When they are given more leeway, they are more likely to be productive and happy in their jobs. This can also reduce turnover.
If employees can manage their own time and their own hours, they are frequently more productive. Flexibility to take time off for doctor’s appointments and children’s sports can make parents feel better about their jobs. Employees also enjoy having the flexibility to work from home. This boosts creativity and productivity as well as reducing the costs of having an employee work in the office. Modern telework software is a great help in making companies more flexible.
4. Encourage and Empower the Team
Employees should always be encouraged to do their best. This is far more effective than punishing employees who do not meet their goals. Positive reinforcement is always better than negative reinforcement, whether it comes to raising children or running a workplace.
Rewarding and recognizing employees who have done well gives them a good feeling about their jobs. Companies may have Employee of the Month programs or give out gift cards as bonuses for an excellent performance. Even the simple act of recognizing an employee’s achievements publicly can hep contribute to a positive and empowering team dynamic.
5. Encourage Trust
Disputes do arise from time to time, no matter how positive the company culture. Conflicts need to be managed fairly and immediately. A great deal of resentment can build up within the workplace if conflicts and disagreements are not treated even-handedly.
When workers feel like they can trust the management of their company, they are more likely to put their own trust in the company in return. This leads to a good relationship between the company and its workers.
6. Use Modern Technologies
To save time and make communication easier, many companies have turned to modern technology. Programs like Slack or Teams make communications more streamlined and enable employees at different job sites to work together. These programs can ease workload, centralize tasks, and prevent the duplication of efforts.
There are also countless productivity products like Asana, Airtable or Dropbox that can dramatically improve workflows across the organization as a whole.
7. Promote Team Building
Good teamwork is a must when creating a positive company culture. Employers can encourage team building by offering retreats and exercises meant to strengthen their bonds with their coworkers. This is especially helpful when employees are coming together from different parts of the company that have not worked together in the past.
8. Listen to Employees
Listening is one of the greatest skills both in life and in building a positive company culture. If companies are open to their employees’ thoughts and suggestions, they are more likely to foster an environment of collaboration. This means employers should go above and beyond simply providing a “safe space” or a suggestion box, but instead should prioritize a system of really listening and rewarding employee contributions. No one knows the business better than those serving on the front lines of day-to-day operations.
Company Culture and Business Performance Improvement
Changing a company’s culture happens slowly over time, but it can be a key process that helps with creating a more productive workplace. A positive culture also helps with branding and with the public image of the company. Consultancy firms like POWERS can help organizations with their company culture, fostering the best possible results of their work.
