Company culture is one of the most talked-about topics for business owners and human resource professionals. Your organization’s culture can make or break your business. Many companies are now realizing their culture needs to reflect their company’s values in order to attract and retain the best employees and see long-term success.
Changing your company culture is not always a simple task. There are many things that contribute to your organization’s culture. These include your organization’s goals, roles, processes, values, communications practices, attitudes, and assumptions. All of these factors make up the ‘DNA’ of your company. It determines how everything your organization handles will unfold.
Because of this, changing a company’s culture is typically a large undertaking. At Culture Works, we’re experts at helping organizations craft a culture that breeds success. Here are a few tips we’ve put together to help you get started on your culture-changing journey.
Bring your leadership team together and think of your shared values and behaviors that drive your business forward. As you establish a few core values that describe your business, begin to brainstorm what behaviors reflect those values. How would your values be translated into actionable behaviors? These behaviors need to be able to apply to all levels of your organization.
Look at your purpose, vision, and values and identify how they fit into your HR processes. All of these aspects of your business should contribute to your hiring, performance management, compensation, benefits, and promotion procedures. How can you create strategies and processes that develop leaders throughout your organization?
Difficult times and situations sometimes bring about the worst in people. This goes for business’ too. Companies may lose sight of their values that drive their company culture when, for lack of a better phrase… sh*t starts to hit the fan. When your company weaves accountability into its everyday culture, you will be better equipped to weather the storm.
Take a look at your current company culture. What aspects of your current culture would you like to keep? Whether it’s an internal culture change or a merger situation, identifying the areas of your culture that you will not leave behind is essential. Those areas likely relate directly to your company’s values.
Internally and externally people are influenced by your culture. If your culture resonates with both employees and the marketplace, you’ve done a good job with your culture. Your culture influences the way you interact with customers. Therefore, you need to ensure your customer service represents your values.
Measuring culture can be confusing and complicated. Start implementing regular company surveys, talent analyses, and assessments of ethics to ensure your culture initiatives are succeeding. If the feedback you receive from your employees does not align with the company you are trying to build, it may be time to revisit your culture plan.
Developing a culture that contributes to greater business success takes time. As you begin creating this new culture for your organization, remember that it won’t happen overnight. There is likely an existing gap between the culture you have and the culture you need to have. Give you and your team the time it takes to fill in that gap. A simple way to keep your mind at ease is to remember why the company needs to change in the first place.
The best time to start creating the culture of your dreams is now. Don’t wait for resources and people that may never come to your company. Culture initiatives will always be changing and evolving with the growth of your company. At Culture Works, we understand how to jump-start you on the path to crafting a culture that means something for your organization. We help you get started, and continue to support you with culture operations help as your team needs.
Getting the ball rolling on this company culture initiative doesn’t have to come from someone with a large amount of influence. Your HR team can take the lead in creating a culture they believe will lead to greater success. You have to start somewhere, and now is the time.
Studies have shown that organizations with better company culture have a significantly higher engagement rate among their employees. Why should you care if your employees are engaged? According to Gallup, engaged employees lead to a 22% increase in profitability. After all, employee experience is directly related to company culture, more so than the physical workplace and technology.
Company culture can have a serious impact on turnover. Good company culture will decrease employee turnover, as employees will feel more connected to the overall plan and purpose of the company. On the other hand, bad company culture drives employees to look for different opportunities elsewhere.
Employees look to your company culture when they are looking to work for a company. Now, with the widespread use of social media, you can display your company culture to work to attract top talent. Hiring people who are excited about your company and its culture will lead to happier and more productive employees.
Happy employees are productive employees. When you invest in the happiness of your employees they feel valued and appreciated in their roles. If employees feel valued, they will work harder to achieve better outcomes.