5 Tips on Improving Your Corporate Culture

One of the key factors that will influence the overall success of your business is your corporate culture. A strong corporate culture enables you to recruit the best employees and retain them as long as possible. It also fosters a work environment where employees are engaged and more productive. Finally, a well-developed company culture will leave a good impression on your business clients

The best culture to adopt is one that values the diversification and uniqueness of the team. While the team may share common goals and values, it also understands the benefit associated with team members having different backgrounds and life experiences.

Here are 5 tips that will help you improve your company culture.

Define Your Company’s Vision

Whether you are establishing a new corporate culture or trying to revamp your existing culture, you should first define what your vision is and how you would like your team and your customers to view your company. This initial step is critical if you want to establish a positive and meaningful culture for you and your team to work in.

Your company’s vision should be easy to understand and clearly communicated to your team. There are different ways for you to communicate your company’s vision to your team. For example, you may discuss it in a structured way at a team meeting, but you also may communicate it repeatedly in different ways to some individuals as you go about your regular work activities.

Determine the metrics that you will use to measure your team’s performance when trying to accomplish the corporate vision that you have established. Let your team know how you are measuring their efforts and why this is important. Remember that your goal through metrics should be on improving processes and better serving your customers rather than solely focus on your bottom line. Your employees need to know what is expected of them, and they also need to feel as though their contributions are truly valuable to the organization.

Recruit the Right People

Each person that you add to the team can be a rich asset in unique ways, and you need to focus on finding the right combination of highly motivated and intelligent people to assist with your efforts.

You should try to find employees that have similar personalities with the rest of your team and can complement them with their unique skills. This will ensure your team collaborates successfully on a daily basis.

These individuals should also have values and goals that culturally align with your business’s culture. Therefore, you need to identify your corporate culture as well as your current strengths and weaknesses before hiring a new person to join the team. There are few things more valuable to your organization than to have different people with various backgrounds and experiences all aligned and working hard toward achieving the common corporate goal.

Emphasize Communication

Each employee should not be viewed as a set of skills or defined by their role in the business. Instead, you should relate to them on a human level and value their individuality and uniqueness. Your team members will work harder for you when they feel that their work matters and is appreciated. This can have a profound impact on innovation and productivity in your business.

As a business owner or entrepreneur, one of the best ways to accomplish this goal is through open communication. Actively communicate with each member of your team the importance of their unique efforts as well as of their opinions. In fact, you may consider openly soliciting opinions and insight from your valued and carefully selected team members.

More than that, you should take time to regularly communicate with each member of your team so that they can easily express their ideas to you. Create a corporate culture that will not stifle opinions or create fear in your team of what may happen if their opinions differ from your own. Rather than always having an agenda, spend time out in the office walking with your team down the hall or communicating freely in the break room. You may be surprised how well this change can positively impact corporate culture in your office. Not all communications need to have a focused topic, and idle banter can allow you to build rapport and to make an important personal connection with your team.

Show Employees They are Valued

Statistics have shown that companies that foster a team environment and value all individuals openly, usually outperform others that do not. Remember that your employees can feel unimportant and unmotivated when they are viewed as just another employee who is simply going through the motions to complete the job at hand. On the other hand, when you treat your team members as valued individuals who each have talents that you treasure, you may find that they are more productive and motivated.

Spend time regularly communicating that your employees are valued. More than that, work toward a common goal that they are proud to contribute to. These efforts can play a major role in productivity and morale in your business.

Create a Relaxing Workplace

All work and no play in your corporate culture can be devastating for the long-term success of your business. Your team members run the risk of burning out when they are overworked. Consider the benefit of instilling an element of fun in your culture from time to time. The majority of the day should be focused on working hard and being productive, but small breaks throughout a typical week can give your team a much-needed mental break.

There are different ways to encourage your team to relax and have fun without negatively affecting productivity. For example, once a month, leave work early to enjoy an afternoon of wine tasting, rock climbing or any other activities that most of your team would enjoy. This gives your employees something to look forward to, and it is also a great team building opportunity that can help your team to work more effectively together as the months go on.

Final Thoughts

The most successful businesses have a culture that employees can easily embrace. These cultures foster energy, independent thinking and motivation in everyone, and they may even boost job satisfaction and overall productivity. Take time today to analyze your company’s culture, and begin making improvements to enjoy the benefits.