Nowadays as you scroll through job openings and Team pages you find references to a whole new category of benefits; ping pong tables, free snacks, and gym memberships dominate the corporate sphere. These added perks reflect the added push for company culture.
Company culture is the work environment of your office. What are the values, the systems in place, the attitude of employees, the habits and the language utilized– all of these contribute to your culture.
You don’t need all of the added perks to have an amazing culture at your office, though. What you need is to be cultivating it from day one and to be listening to your employees.
Create Values
Decide what the core of your company is. Not what you do, but what your company is.
For instance, Zappos is essentially an online shoe company, but they are known for being so much more. Their customer service and culture are some of the first things that come to mind when the company is mentioned and are the things they are recognized for the most. Their organization is centered on ten core values which they base their development off of.
At Levy, our company culture had a shift when we were acquired by our current owner, Michele Adams. Innovation and a move into the corporate world accompanied her acquisition. The core values of the company never shifted though, just the long-term goals. At the core of the company culture was still the pride in establishing the best award we could for each and every client. What shifted was the process. The company was consolidated in one building so the sales team and the production team could communicate more easily, because let’s be honest, clear communication makes everyone happier.
Changes within the company were for the overall benefit of all employees and the everyday work flow.
The core values should reflect what you want your company to be about. Decide what’s important to your employees, not just you, when making changes to affect the company culture.
Create Decision Makers
People like to know what they are doing is making a difference. They want to know their work and the decisions they make can have an impact on the company.
Having a voice within your organization means you’re comfortable making decisions and don’t fear repercussions from management. A key element to any culture that wants to keep their top talent is ensuring their employees feel the freedom to explore within their roles.
A company can only evolve if their workers are evolving and dedicated to the organization’s mission. It is not only HR’s role, but everyone’s in the company, to breed a culture where every person feels the desire to help the company grow.
Create a Team
Two heads are better than one. Having a team that is willing to work together across specialties allows projects to be completed more fully than ones that stay solely within one department.
A team versus a set of employees not only work together to complete projects as best as they can, but they are friendly towards each other and have interactions that reach outside the daily work tasks; they build a sense of camaraderie and dedication.
Teammates who are friendly at work build an atmosphere people are happy to stay in day in and day out.
Creating a company culture people want to work in saves you money in the long run. You’ll attract good talent and dedicated employees, while also lowering your turnover. So, not only have your employees and you benefited, but your wallet has as well. With employees taking 70% of their knowledge with them and it costing 150% of their salary to replace them, you need to be working hard to ensure your company culture breeds longevity.
Happy employees are more productive, happy employees stay and build companies; it’s a win-win for everyone.
Start shaping your company culture today. Download our Employee Engagement Ideas Ebook for more ideas!
