5 Ways to Create a Great Company Culture Small secrets that will help you attract and keep your company's best employees.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Great company cultures don't just happen — they are created through the values, rituals and goals that are unique to an organization. As a consultant, I've been a part of many excellent company environments. Some were so great that I didn't want the work to end. Others were exactly what you'd expect to find in large corporations.
I found the best workplace cultures were inclusive, collaborative and quick to acknowledge staff contributions. Those companies made employees feel valued and appreciated for their efforts. Their culture easily attracted and retained the company's best employees. It was a pleasure to be a part of them.
Here's how you can create and maintain this type of outstanding environment.
Communicate your culture to your employees
Open communication is the foundation of every healthy relationship, and it's also the cornerstone of an exceptional work environment. From interns to executive management, all corporate communication must be crystal clear. It can be as straightforward as using the company intranet to share with employees what you value and why those values matter, or as complex as showing them through corporate activities and your day-to-day actions.
Plain, consistent communication ensures that everyone knows and understands what's expected of them and how they can work toward achieving the organization's goals.
Always make sure the company's values are expressed in everything you do.
Related: 10 Examples of Companies With Fantastic Cultures
Be transparent
Like open communication, internal company transparency is essential to a great work environment. Company transparency can be defined as freely sharing the organization's plans and goals with staff. Many people choose to work for companies that have this kind of culture. They want to feel empowered by knowing what's going on up the corporate ladder.
A transparent culture doesn't mean you share all the corporate or employee data within the organization, but the more transparency you show, the easier it will be to build trust and loyalty with your employees.
Transparency boosts morale and encourages productivity. It enables employees to work together toward company goals, not compete to complete department projects.
Listen to your employees
One of the scariest mistakes companies make is not listening to the people who actually do the work. Regardless of an employee's position on the organizational chart, they can provide valuable input into how your business can continually improve at what it does and how it delivers value to its customers.
Let employees know you want to hear what they have to say. Push creativity by implementing programs that make it easy for them to show their BIZ Experiencesial spirit and provide ideas and feedback.
Your employees should know how valuable they are and what their input means to the company. Listening to them is essential for long-term business success.
Related: How Listening to Your Employees Can Improve Your Business
Invest in your employees
Happy employees are the heartbeat of a vibrant company culture, and investing in them is more than just a great financial decision. It's smart business.
If you want to build a strong, exuberant company, you must create a positive work environment that invests in your employees. Whether this means providing training and development programs, offering generous paid time off or flexible work hours, spending time and money to invest in your employees can actually improve your bottom line.
Happy, energetic employees will always serve your customers better. The better they serve your customers, the happier your customers will be. The happier your customers are, the more your organization benefits. It's a positive business cycle that will inspire trust, respect and loyalty among company, staff and customers.
Perks and benefits
Before the pandemic, free lunches and half-day Fridays had become normal company perks. However, in today's remote working environment, employees want perks that allow them to have a successful work-life balance.
Ask your employees what they want in terms of perks and benefits. Most likely, you'll hear requests for shorter, flexible working hours, extended paid time off, education reimbursement, health insurance and wellness programs. Figure out how you can accommodate those needs without hurting productivity or quality.
You can cut back on employee turnover and absenteeism, boost productivity, build morale and improve company culture by implementing terrific employee benefits programs.
