Tag Archive for: Culture Works

How to Manage Wellness in the Workplace

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Employee Managing Their Wellness in the Workplace

How to Manage Time, Wellness, and Self: Part Two

To manage personal wellness, individuals need to make conscious efforts with the goal of improving physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. 

While often associated with yoga classes, seminars, and green juice smoothies, personal wellness should be more a long-term, evolving process than a short-term, achievable goal. Although we admit, we do enjoy yoga, seminars, and green juice smoothies – Who says you can’t have both?

Wellness isn’t only significant at home or in the workplace. You should consider and adjust both aspects of your life in your journey toward personal wellness. 

So, we’re here with the second part of our three-part series. Today, we’re discussing strategies to manage your personal well-being in the workplace. 

What is Wellness in the Workplace?

Wellness in the workplace refers to the mental and physical health of employees in the company. Therefore, your efforts to improve wellness may include elements intended to support healthy behaviors as well as reduce risks to both mental and physical health. By addressing these risks and practicing healthy behaviors, you can improve your work life as well as prevent more serious health issues in the future. 

How Do Companies Improve Employee Wellness?

Companies may take a number of approaches to improve employee wellness. For example: 

  • Wellness Activities
  • Free Medical Screenings
  • Health Coaching
  • Health Club Memberships
  • Stress Management Practices
  • On-Site Fitness Programs or Facilities
  • Accessible Kitchens or Healthy Food options
  • Company Wellness Competitions
  • Wellness Education: Programs, Courses, Online Resources

In addition to utilizing the wellness resources provided by your company, you can also implement several strategies to manage your own wellness in the workplace. Let’s dive in.

How to Manage Your Personal Wellness

For many people, wellness can be difficult to prioritize amongst packed schedules, demanding projects, and a busy personal life. However, investing in your personal well-being can help you build healthy habits to better navigate these obstacles. 

Prioritize a Proper Sleep Schedule

According to Fort HealthCare Business Health, reducing your sleep by as little as an hour and a half for just one night could result in daytime alertness being reduced by as much as 32%. Further, reduced sleep can also impair your brain’s ability to process and store information as well as problem-solve. 

The adult body requires approximately six or seven hours of sleep per night to function correctly. Prioritize sleep by first deciding what your schedule will be including a goal time to wake up and a goal time to go to sleep. Consider implementing strategies to help you keep this schedule, such as:

  • Setting alarms to remind yourself to get ready for bed
  • Designing a calming nighttime routine
  • Turning off devices at a certain time
  • Skipping naps (we know, we know! But naps can make it difficult to sleep at night and lead to drowsiness or grogginess, especially if the nap is after 3 pm.)
  • Create a quiet and dark environment to sleep

Take Steps to Manage Your Stress

Work-related stress can cause you to feel unhappy with both your job and your personal life. The good news is that there are a few strategies you can use to manage your stress and improve your personal wellness. 

Find Your Stressors

Try to pinpoint your stressors by asking yourself what exactly is making you feel stressed and why? You may choose to keep a journal to record your thoughts as well as information about stressful circumstances. This technique can help you to learn more about your specific stressors so you can better prepare for and respond to similar events in the future. 

Develop Healthy Responses to Stress

Common poor responses to workplace stress may include stress-eating and shutting down. These habits can be tough to break so we suggest slowly transitioning into healthier options– seems a little counterintuitive to stress yourself out about not responding to stress correctly, right?

Instead, replace these habits with healthier alternatives. Consider a quick walk around the block in the sunlight, a meditation break,  or even just a couple of minutes of breathing exercises to allow yourself to slow down, process, and figure out the best way to navigate the situation.

Set Aside Time to Recharge

Brains and bodies require rest to recharge and function efficiently. To recharge, you should be taking time to completely disconnect from work–no thinking about work while making dinner, no tinkering with a project while watching tv at night. When you come back to work after recharging, you’ll likely find yourself feeling focused and productive. 

Socialize and Communicate

Isolation and a lack of communication can negatively impact your mental health and well-being, both in your work and personal life. Socializing can sharpen cognitive skills, reduce stress as well as contribute to your sense of happiness and well-being. Set aside time to spend with your friends and family and try to keep these plans. 

As for socializing in the workplace, communication can foster relationships among colleagues and ensure you are getting the support you need. 

Learn more about supporting your company culture through human connection, here.

Be Patient With Yourself

At Culture Works, we want to remind you that personal wellness is a constant process and deliberate effort; don’t be hard on yourself if you struggle to pick up these habits right away! Be patient with yourself in your journey toward personal wellness.

“Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.” — Kim Collins.

Stay Tuned for Part Three!

Stay tuned for part three of our series, where we’ll discuss how to manage self.


Do you have a positive company culture? Find out by reading our article “Five Signs You Have a Positive Company Culture.”

How to Leverage Learning and Development to Improve Employee Retention

man sitting with laptop smiling at a coffee shop

Recently, employees’ priorities and desires have shifted—especially as a result of the pandemic.

Many individuals previously valued high-end office amenities and compensation above all else. Now, however, the list of desires has changed dramatically. (That’s not to say that brag-worthy offices and compensation don’t matter!)

There is one element that employers can leverage to improve employee retention: enter learning and development (L&D). Let’s continue this conversation on how to leverage learning and development to improve employee retention.

What is Learning and Development?

Learning and development (L&D) is an HR function defined as “a systematic process to enhance an employee’s skills, knowledge, and competency, resulting in better performance in a work setting.”

In ​​Human Resource Management, Back to Basics by Filip Lievens, it’s written that the goal of L&D is “to develop or change the behavior of individuals or groups for the better, sharing knowledge and insights that enable them to do their work better, or cultivate attitudes that help them perform better.”

So, what does this look like in real life? L&D can look like a variety of things depending on the business making the investment. For example:

  • One-on-one coaching
  • Seminars and/or workshops
  • Continued education
  • And more!
Infographic of How to Leverage Learning and Development to Improve Employee Retention

What Are the Benefits of Learning and Development?

There are various benefits—for both employees and employers—when it comes to implementing an effective L&D strategy for your business. Some of the benefits include:

  • Increased productivity
  • Reduced workplace risk
  • Increased job satisfaction
  • And of course, increased retention (which in turn leads to financial savings!)

How Learning and Development Improves Employee Retention

Increased employee retention is one of the best benefits of a successful learning and development strategy. In fact, according to a LinkedIn study, “94% of employees would stay at a company for longer if the business was investing in their career development.” Wow, that’s a statistic that can’t be ignored!

Moreover, L&D is something that you can’t ignore—especially given the Great Resignation that we’re observing now. The job market is HOT, and research shows that 86% of professionals would change jobs if a new company offered more opportunities for professional development.

PS: Employers who are fearful of the Great Resignation… Check out one of our latest articles on how to prevent the Great Resignation in your business.

How Can You Make Learning and Development Possible for Your Business?

We know, all of this L&D talk sounds great… But how can you make L&D possible for YOUR business? Below, we’ve listed three tips for getting started.

Incorporate Learning and Development Right Off The Bat

Many employers make the mistake of not implementing learning and development for new hires until they’re “comfortable” in their roles. Professional development, however, should be accessible from the get-go. This will ensure L&D has a more profound impact on an employee’s experience.

Build Learning and Development into Everyone’s Schedules

We know, everyone is busy! Whether it’s monthly or quarterly, it’s important to set aside a designated time for L&D on everyone’s calendars.

Make Learning and Development Accessible

Contrary to popular belief, L&D doesn’t have to break the bank. In fact, it’s often cheaper than many of the other perks you might offer your employees. That being said, learning and development opportunities should be spread across the board—and not just available to key employees and executives.

In fact, coaching has been named one of the most requested employee benefits, and the results are a win-win for both employee and employer. The bottom line? All of your employees are worth the investment of L&D!

Interested in learning more? Read on to see how learning and development can transform your company culture.

Happy Anniversary To Us: Culture Works is Two!

work celebration party with confetti pink company culture

It’s official! Our company, Culture Works, is two—happy anniversary to us! We are so excited to continue working with our amazing clients to make productivity soar, reduce churn, and operationalize culture through:

  • HR Consulting
  • Culture Operations
  • Talent Recruitment
  • And more!

We love operationalizing the vision of role and value alignment through true culture operations and culture accountability, and can’t wait to do more of it.

In the spirit of Culture Works turning two, we asked some of our team members to reflect on our two-year journey. Below are a few of their thoughts… Cheers!

Reflecting On Our Two-Year Journey

Who? Amber McQuail, Culture Operations

What She Has to Say: “Culture Works’ mission and values are not just words on a page, EVERYONE definitely walks the walk and talks the talk. It’s intentional collaboration, it’s inclusive, it’s thoughtful and caring, it’s impactful and it’s FUN!  I’ve watched the team double in size over the last year, and it’s been so rewarding to see an entire group of professionals grow and thrive alongside their clients and always be eager for more.”


Who? Claudia Parker, Branding Operations

What She Has to Say: “It is exciting to partner with companies that share our passion for employees and company culture. We have a fun, dedicated, passionate, committed, and collaborative team who love working with our clients in making a positive impact on the lives of their employees, their company culture, and the long-term vision of the business.”

Who? Courtney Harrison, Partner Operations Manager

What She Has to Say: “Since I have been with Culture Works I have seen the team and our clients evolve dramatically. Our team collaborates and elevates the level of work product for our clients to unbelievable heights. I get so excited to see the impactful work and hear about how our team works so hard to customize, humanize and simplify everything for our clients.”

Who? Cymbre Brown, HR Generalist

What She Has to Say: “We have managed to create this cohesive group of people who genuinely love what they do. We work so well together and understand how to capitalize on each other’s strengths to provide the very best results to our clients. I have never worked with a group of people that are so committed to a company’s vision. I am so proud of all that WE have accomplished.”

Who? Jenn Owens, HR Consultant

What She Has to Say: “Internally, we have focused on being a learning organization developing our HR knowledge for our clients and our own personal growth from a professional and emotional intelligence lens. Externally, our focus on partnering with companies to better understand their business and how we can help them build an amazing place for their employees to work has shown that HR is a partner here to help make company culture better.”

Who? Lea Vergara, HR Generalist

What She Has to Say: “Joining Culture Works has been the most exciting and rewarding experience of my career. Our team is so supportive – of each other and our clients. I love that we genuinely care for our clients, and it is rewarding to see them change for the better as organizations through their partnership with Culture Works.”

Who? Margie Holmstrom, Senior HR Generalist

What She Has to Say: “I have been with Culture Works for about 7 months now and I am so impressed with the company and its leader, Kristi! She ‘walks the talk’ in every way and that’s not something you see every day in business. Whenever we provide HR guidance, work products, or process improvements, clients never fail to express how grateful they are. I’m so excited for Culture Works’ 2-year anniversary – I can’t wait to see what our future holds! I’m thankful to be a part of this amazing company and team!”

Who? Sabrina Vonch, L&D Specialist

What She Has to Say: “I was recently asked, ‘What would I change about Culture Works?’ This question, in sincerity, stumped me. As a learning organization, Culture Works is committed to a growth mindset. This mindset allows us to stay innovative not only for our team but also for our clients. If something is not working, we learn from it, make the necessary changes to improve and keep moving forward. We are inherently fostering change and embracing our company values daily – I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


Who? Simone Jones, Culture Operations Partner

What She Has to Say: “Since I joined Culture Works, I have seen the quality of our work evolve, providing impactful and innovative products to our clients. The ability to work with clients who are aligned with our mission and values allows us to truly elevate their culture and employee engagement.”

Interested in learning more about how the Culture Works team works? Read on to learn how we retain our top talent (and how you should, too!)

culture works anniversary

HRIS, HCM, and HXM: What Are They and Why Do They Matter?

HRIS HCM HXM

HRIS, HCM, HXM… What the heck do all of these human resources acronyms mean!? And why do they matter? Don’t worry, our team at Culture Works is here to simplify things for you.

Let’s get down to the explanations, starting with HRIS.

What is HRIS?

HRIS stands for human resource information system. Gone are the days of filing cabinets and paper forms!

Moreover, an HRIS is a software solution that “maintains, manages, and processes detailed employee information and human resources-related policies and procedures,” according to Oracle. Sounds awesome, right?

“The HRIS standardizes human resources (HR) tasks and processes while facilitating accurate record-keeping and reporting.”

What Are the Benefits of HRIS?

Potential benefits of implementing an HRIS include:

  • Increased productivity
  • The ability to make data-driven decisions
  • Improved operational efficiency
  • Increased employee satisfaction
  • Enhance user experiences
  • Accommodate business growth
  • Maintain compliance

HRIS Examples

Here are some HRIS software examples, courtesy of Adam Enfroy.

  • ADP
  • Namely HR
  • Paycor HR
  • Bamboo HR
  • Workday
  • Zenefits
  • UKG Pro
  • Sapling

What is HCM?

HCM stands for human capital management.

Similar to HRIS, HCM is a great tool for overworked HR teams and line managers, as it frees up time from various HR tasks. To clarify, human capital management is not only software but also a more general HR strategy.

According to ADP, human capital management is “the process of hiring the right people, managing workforces effectively and optimizing productivity… [This strategy is] made up of a series of administrative and strategic applications that include:

  • Recruitment
  • Onboarding
  • Payroll
  • Time and attendance
  • Benefits and retirement services
  • Talent management
  • Training
  • Reporting and analytics
  • Compliance”

So, has your company spent time developing a quality HCM strategy? Look below for its primary benefit.

The Primary Benefit of HCM

Most importantly, an effective HCM strategy helps increase workforce productivity while helping HR managers hire, engage, and retain employees.

What is HXM?

Let’s address our final acronym: HXM. HXM stands for human experience management. Human experience management continues to build upon human capital management (HCM).

The Future of Customer Engagement, Experience, and Engagement describes HXM best. Unlike HCM—which focuses “on facilitating transactions and pushing top-down HR processes”—HXM is “all about focusing on the people who power a business to success; providing them with the tools and technology to enable meaningful, productive, and personal employee experiences that drive business results.” Awesome, right?

After all, we all know that when your employees have positive work experiences, their productivity, creativity, and ability to serve all increase. On the contrary, a negative employee experience can result in decreased productivity, poor performance, and therefore, negative customer or client experiences.

The newly emerging idea of HXM manages the role that employee experience plays in developing high-performing companies. Don’t believe in the importance of HXM? Check out this article by Forbes, “5 Reasons Why Human Experience Management Is The Future Of HR.”

A Final Word

The fact of the matter is that your business doesn’t want to be focusing on HRIS, HCM, and HXM solely to protect itself, or because it’s what you “should be doing.”

HRIS, HCM, and HXM help foster amazing company culture—and are why it’s important to build a team that is focused on building this standup culture. Interested in learning more? Read on for ten unique ways to support your company culture through human connection.

Exiting Your Business: Step #1, Revisit Your Org Chart

Planning on exiting your business? Let’s discuss the first step you should take when doing so as a business owner: revisiting your org chart. But you might be wondering, what is an org chart, and why is it important?

What is an Org Chart?

First, for those who need a refresher, what is an org chart? An organizational chart, or org chart, shows the internal structure of an organization or company.

This considered, org charts house a lot of information. Also, there are many different types of org charts. For example:

  • Hierarchical Org Chart: Hence its name, shows who’s at the “top” of a business.
  • Matrix Org Chart: Typically used when individuals have more than one manager.
  • Flat or Horizontal Org Chart: This type of org chart is simple with just two levels: management and the workers. There are little or no levels of middle management in flat and horizontal org charts.
Org Chart
Above is an example of a “Matrix Org Chart” from Lucidchart.com.

How an Org Chart Can Benefit Your Business

So, now that we’ve refreshed your memory about org charts, how can they benefit your business? As a business owner, there are many benefits to using and maintaining your org chart. An org chart can help…

Org Charts for your business

Illustrate a Clear Reporting Structure

For big companies especially, org charts are extremely useful in illustrating who is a part of the company, who reports to who, who manages each department, and so on.

(Could we say “who” any more times!?)

By using an organizational chart, your company increases its efficiency; employees know exactly who to go to as needed.

Make Onboarding More Efficient

The onboarding process can be a thorn in your side as a business owner. There are so many people for your new hire to meet and remember! Creating an org chart can make your new hire more comfortable and help them put names to faces quicker.

Visualize Reorganization

The fact of the matter is that most of your employees won’t stay in the same role forever. Whether you have individuals shifting from department to department or from role to role, investing in quality org chart software can help you visualize your business’s reorganization with ease.

Delegate Work

A top notch org chart can help employees see their workload clearly. Additionally, an org chart can be helpful to identify when/if department heads need support. For example, are they managing a team of seven when they only have the bandwidth to manage five or six? An org chart can clearly paint this picture to help delegate work.

Increase Collaboration

When you have an awesome org chart, it’s something that can be shared all throughout your business. It then becomes a practical company-wide tool for planning and collaboration. An org chart can be especially helpful when it comes to scaling for growth, restructuring, and workforce planning.

How Org Charts Support Exit Planning

So, what the heck does an org chart have to do with exit planning? Well, we’re glad you asked…

Having an org chart helps you plan for exit. All of these benefits we’ve listed above—illustrating a clear reporting structure, increasing onboarding efficiency and collaboration, etc.—help support a smooth exit strategy.

After all, leaving behind your business takes forethought, and how could you leave behind your business without first identifying its internal structure?

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to exit planning is making sure your business won’t crumble when you leave. Having a powerful, scalable org chart in place is one of the many ways that you can help prepare your team for exit.

Want to Learn More?

So, you’re on your way to having an awesome org chart in place, plus you have a great team of employees! But how does your company fare culture wise? Here are five signs you have a positive company culture.

Shh… Retaining Your Top Talent Doesn’t Have to Be a Secret

Employee Retention

When you consider talent retention, chances are the first thing you think of doing as a business owner or CEO is offering competitive compensation to your employees.

While money is an important factor in attracting and retaining top talent, it’s not the entire cake. Rather, it’s an ingredient in the cake. Arguably, there is a much more important ingredient in the cake that is employee retention. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article on employee retention, the most important ingredient is making your employees feel special.

Now, wait a minute … Before you roll your eyes at how cheesy or “unprofessional” you might think this is, give it some serious thought.

Here, we’ll help you.

Feeling Valued and Special in the Workplace

Don’t worry, we’re not going to get all mushy gushy.

But why is it important to feel valued and special in the workplace? Well, according to Investors in People, the need to feel valued is not an abstract concept.

They write, “As human beings, we know what it feels like to feel undervalued and before long it can become intolerable. This is not only true in the workplace, but in relationships, family life, social clubs, and more.”

Feeling special in the workplace results in a number of positive benefits, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), including:

  • Better physical and mental health
  • Higher levels of engagement, satisfaction, and motivation.

“All the things that lead to a healthy and productive relationship between employer and employee,” says Investors in People.

How Can You Make Employees Feel Special?

So, how can you ensure your employees—more specifically your top talent—feel special in order to attract and retain them? Don’t worry, we’re not going to advise you to take your employees out for a happy hour every week (although we’re sure they wouldn’t complain!) or to buy them flowers and chocolates (kind of weird…)

Harvard Business Reviews narrows making your top talent feel special to three things you should never do. Here’s what they are.

Never Dismiss Their Ideas

Regardless of whether or not the idea is immediately actionable, ensure that your employees’ ideas are heard. Do not dismiss their ideas. Also, it’s important to remember that chances are, when an employee comes to you with an idea, it’s because they’re able to see an issue on the horizon.

Never Block Their Development

Offer your employees opportunities to grow. Is there a seminar or conference you know they’d like to attend to grow their knowledge? Support them in this! As an employer, you should always be championing your employees’ development.

Never Pass Up the Chance the Praise Them

Words of praise go a long way. Chances are your top talent works around the clock on difficult projects and tasks. When you fail to recognize this, employees might become resentful or look for other places of employment.

A Final Word

There you have it! The secret to retaining your top talent: making them feel special. (See, it’s not rocket science!) Read on for tips for attracting and retaining great talent.

Work-Life Integration is the New Work-Life Balance

Work Life Integration

Did you know that 60% of Americans say they struggle to keep a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives? But maybe it’s the word “balance” that creates the problem in the first place…

The term ‘work-life integration’ has trumped the traditional concept of ‘work-life balance’ as of late. But what is work-life integration? And why is work-life integration the new-work life balance? (See what we did there? It’s like Orange Is the New Black but with an HR twist!)

Let’s discuss.

What is Work-Life Balance?

Work-life balance, we’ve all heard of it. But what is it?

Work-life balance, according to HR Zone, “refers to the level of prioritization between personal and professional activities in an individual’s life and the level to which activities related to their job are present in the home.”

Typically, in work-life balance, both are equally prioritized. There is a clear distinction between the two with clearly designated “work hours” vs. non-work hours.

In short, when discussing work-life balance, work and life coexist separately.

What is Work-Life Integration?

Work-life integration, on the other hand, is a newly coined term. Work-life integration takes away the “balancing” aspect and instead focuses on integrating the various needs of your daily life.

As the term implies, work-life integration is about integrating work and life together; bringing them closer. There are many ways to do this, but more on that later.

Atlassian explains work-life integration quite well. “Professionals practicing work-life integration care less about what’s ‘work time’ and what’s ‘personal time.’” Instead, they ask themselves, “What’s the best time to do this thing?”

This looks different for each person. For some employees, it might mean working later in the day or night so they can attend a personal event or commitment in the morning.

Work-life integration, unlike work-life balance, “sees every activity in your day as part of a whole.” It’s focused less on compartmentalizing, where parts of your days are broken into ‘buckets’ of sorts.

How Did Life-Work Integration Come About?

We all know that after two years amid a global pandemic, the workspace looks wildly different than it used to. Now more than ever, employees desire flexibility.

In fact, research shows that in the second half of 2021, over 20 million people left their jobs, likely due to a lack of flexibility. The Great Resignation is a phenomenon that we are seeing across the U.S.

According to Fortune, however, it goes beyond people just quitting their jobs. People are rethinking what they want out of life and are challenging the idea of ‘workism’: “the idea that we’re defined primarily by our work, and everything else—i.e. life—must fit into the increasingly small space that is left.”

Work-life integration is one of the answers to preventing The Great Resignation in your business.

Why Do You Need Work-Life Integration?

If the answer isn’t already clear—whether you’re a business owner or an employee—you should consider adopting work-life integration.

Embracing the flexibility that comes with work-life integration lets individuals coordinate their own schedules, which in turn, increases satisfaction in all areas of their lives. Oppositely, research shows that boundary violations result in negative consequences.

As Kaitlin Milliken, multimedia editor of Innovation Leader puts it: “Tailoring an employee’s work situation to their work style and personal situation can help create a productive, balanced work environment… Some thrive in an office setting daily and others are just as efficient working at home some or all of the time.”

“An employee’s personal life does not need to be something that competes with work,” says Milliken. “Enabling people to tend to other parts of their life can help them avoid burnout.

How You Can Promote Work-Life Integration in Your Workplace?

So, how can you achieve this? Although the list is much longer than what we provide below, there is one key way that you can promote work-life integration in your workplace.

Understand what your employees need to create ideal work and life environments!

This considered, here are some examples of what supporting work-life integration might look like in your business:

  • Flexible telecommuting arrangements or childcare
  • Tuition reimbursement
  • Regularly reviewing workloads
  • Focusing on productivity rather than hours
  • Acknowledging that every employee is (and works) different

Read on to learn the best ways to keep employees engaged and excited about work.

How to ensure successful culture integration post-M&A

How to ensure successful culture integration post-M&A

The M&A process is an exciting but lengthy one. It can last anywhere from months to years depending on the size of the company involved. During this period, the merging of two company cultures can create culture shock, damaging productivity, profitability, and morale. Let’s talk about how to avoid that!

Entering into a merger can be challenging for both companies. Whatever the reasoning behind the merger, one thing is for sure—change is coming. According to Harvard Business Review, between 70 and 90% of mergers and acquisitions fail. A culture clash is often to blame for this extremely high number. 

Due Diligence

Preparing for a merger or acquisition requires time and planning. A large portion of this time is dedicated to conducting due diligence. Not sure how to go about your due diligence? Check out our due diligence checklist to ensure a smooth transition during an M&A. 

Due diligence happens during the process of an M&A — But what about the potential culture shock post-M&A? 

Leadership can help bring together the best of both cultures.

Employee engagement doesn’t have to suffer when you merge two different cultures. The leaders of both companies hold the power to protect employees and help them successfully share their cultures. One strategy is a weekly leadership meeting in which everyone steps back from the chaos of the merger to highlight the advantages of both cultures and strategize on ways to bring the best of each culture together to create a new, optimized company culture that works for everyone.

Creating a successful company culture requires an investment from everyone on the team and is essential to retaining employees and keeping them engaged in their work. Here’s how to get started.

Redefine your company’s core values.

Your culture and your purpose are defined by your core values. Merging two different sets of core values can be challenging. In many cases, the acquiring company attempts to keep its core values and share them with the other team.  This frequently results in a sense of disenfranchisement by the acquired company’s employees and results in reduced morale, productivity, and in turn, profitability.  A more egalitarian approach incorporates a process in which the leadership, often facilitated by an outside coach or consulting team, finds the best elements of both sets of principles and works to merge them, creating a new set of core values that speak to the merged company.

Training and development.

As you work to merge two different cultures together, it’s important to engage in team-building activities and ongoing training for all levels of the organization. 

Another aspect of the development of your team is ensuring your team members are aligned in their roles. Role alignment is essential to the success of your new merged business. When employees are aligned in roles that match their strengths they will be more engaged and excited about work.

Through training and development programs, team members who are not role aligned can discover their optimal roles and, in the process of reconfiguring the companies in the merger, change roles to be more productive and set up for success.  

Check-in with employees regularly. 

During a merger, it is essential that leadership and HR communicate regularly with all employees to ensure their concerns are being addressed. This can be done through informal check-ins, and/or formal employee engagement surveys. Monthly performance reviews can focus on an employee’s individual contributions to the overall company goals and assure them that their role is secure in the transition

Communication

One of the top reasons mergers and acquisitions fail is a lack of communication. When communication is lacking between managers and employees, employees are left asking questions: Why is the company merging? How will I be affected? How will I be supported throughout this merger? Am I about to lose my job?

Lack of communication with your employees may leave them confused and unmotivated to work hard for the newly merged company. Keep employees updated on the context of the merger, the timeline of what’s next, and other frequently asked questions related to the merger. Like restructuring the Org chart.  

Employee engagement before and after the merger.

Analyzing employee data before and after the merger can help you better understand how your organization has been impacted by the merger. In doing so, you can identify areas of your culture that may need work.

Employee retention

Employees will likely feel on edge during this major transition. They may be faced with fears of losing their jobs, being asked to re-apply for their job, or drastic company culture changes. Losing employees during the merger will negatively affect profitability. So focus on communication, incentives, clear goals, and strategies to keep your team engaged and in the know.

What’s the Difference Between a Leader and a Manager?

What’s the Difference Between a Leader and a Manager?

As Julias Campbell says in Remember the Titans, “attitude reflects leadership, captain.” This reigns true for the workplace as well. Leadership is the driving force of your company’s culture. 

One question we often receive from clients is, “What is the difference between a leader and a manager?” Let’s dive into the differences between the two, and the impact they have on the organization. 

Manager vs. Leader

As you have probably seen in any workplace, leaders have people who follow them and get behind their ideas and initiatives. While a manager simply has people who work for them. The biggest difference between the two is the influence and impact they have on the people with whom they interact.

As a business owner, ensuring you have managers who have strong leadership qualities is essential to your success.

Some of the most influential characteristics of a leader include:

  • Honest and Integrity
  • Inspiration
  • Communication Skills
  • Strong Vision
  • Ability to Innovate

The characteristics of a strong manager that you also want to be on the lookout for include:

  • People-focused
  • Project management
  • Execution of a vision

A manager who has a blend of the two sets of characteristics has a real opportunity to drive change and create a positive workplace culture. 


BoredPanda provides great illustrations that sum up the differences between a leader and simply a boss. The common theme between all the images is the difference in processes and the rhetoric used in the office.

Photo courtesy of BoredPanda
Photo courtesy of BoredPanda

Taking Leadership Beyond Management 

At Culture Works we understand that leading a team, an organization, or just a single person can be challenging. Creating success for your company as a leader requires a well-thought-out and actionable plan. 

Here are the foundational steps you can take to step closer into the leadership role:

First, begin with defining your purpose.

Create a vision and purpose for yourself and your team. Effectively communicate this purpose with your team and other employees at all levels. This creates a cohesive company spirit that makes everyone feel included.

Next, show that you are passionate about your purpose and vision.

Enthusiasm is contagious. If you show you care, your employee will care more in return. If people see that they are important to implementing the company’s vision, they will feel important and appreciated.

Show your employees the example of what they should be doing, by doing it yourself.

If you hold yourself to a higher standard than those around you, your employees will rise to the standard you set.

Maintain flexibility in how you reach your goals.

While your goals should be fixed, the way you attain them can change based on circumstances. Stay determined and focused on achieving goals, while changing course when necessary.

As you begin to create these goals for your team, be sure to consider the decisions that will create sustainable success.

Quick fixes and wins do not build momentum or increase employee engagement. Planning for long-term success will allow your employees to feel safe and secure with their employment.

Have a dual focus as you navigate through your company’s decisions.

Be sure to keep the big picture in mind always, but pay attention to the small details that build the big picture. Create your business strategy by using those small details.

Want to know more about how you can take your leadership or your team’s leadership beyond management? Read more on our taking leadership beyond management blog. 

Hiring Trends in the New Year

hiring trends in the new year

The hiring process has changed over the last year and will continue to change in 2022. 

Culture Works believes that intentional hiring can be achieved in the new year with the use of role alignment and culture operations. 

These are some of the tools that Culture Works uses with clients, but what other hiring trends are coming in 2022?

Proactive Recruitment

A buzzword that is being thrown around in the HR sector is “proactive recruitment.” Well, it turns out that proactive recruitment is more than a buzzword, it’s also a practical tool to utilize.

Proactive recruitment is exactly what it sounds like. A company might actively talk to candidates who are already hired in another role at another company. It sounds risky, but the main hiring trend of 2022 is that anything goes. The remote work culture has additionally made proactive recruitment more tangible in the workforce.

Remote Work is Here to Stay

LinkedIn did a worldwide analysis on the job market and determined that the most sought-after jobs in the new year are remote.


This can be explained for many reasons. One of the biggest draws towards remote work is that location doesn’t matter anymore! A couple of years ago, the “Are you willing to relocate?” section of job applications might have been a scary thing to check off. Now, relocating isn’t required as often.

How Does Remote Work Affect Employee Benefits for the Future? 

Business Insider warns future job seekers to look out for “too good to be true” scenarios. This means that a company may offer a tight-knit community full of happy hours, free lunches, and other one-off perks.

While these offers are tempting, there are sometimes factors about the workplace that are not ideal to work in (despite the tempting happy hour offers).

Some questions to ask about benefits and company culture in 2022 might include:

  • How does this company address burnout? 
  • How does the company implement work-life balance? 
  • Do employees feel they are working in a safe environment? 
  • How is communication handled in the office? 

These questions are a starting point for understanding what companies are painting themselves as—compared to how they actually operate.

How to Narrow Your Search (AKA Avoid the Black Hole of LinkedIn!)

The remote workforce often means remote recruiting and hiring.

If your company posts a job offer, chances are hundreds of applicants are going to see the job posting on LinkedIn. So, how do you narrow down your talent search in the age of “one-click” job recruitment?

On LinkedIn’s blog, they highlight the best practices to use as a company using LinkedIn for hiring. Some of their main focuses for LinkedIn specifically include:

  • “Convert your company followers into new hires
  • Align your search and pipeline in one place
  • Search for new talent based on the profiles of your current top performers
  • Once you’ve found people who seem like a good fit, send them an effective InMail message” 

These are all great tips for after people have applied for a job through LinkedIn, but the time is just as valuable as your own. How can you make the process as simple but effective as possible? Some great guidelines to follow include:

  • Writing job descriptions that are detailed and very clear
  • Use the Search Insights Feature available for recruiters
  • Always, always respond, even if the response is a rejection of their application

The communication process through hiring has shifted. If a potential hire has spent an hour crafting a cover letter and application, and they never hear back regardless of the outcome, then there is less credibility tied to your business based on word-of-mouth.

Market Yourself to Potential Employees

If your company doesn’t have a marketing strategy, you’re already behind. 

While your competitors are marketing themselves to clients and future employees on various social media platforms, you have stayed in the same networking circle.

People love and value the human side of a company.  So, if your company isn’t ready to step into hiring an outsourced marketing agency, there are small steps you can take to start attracting high-value hires.

One of these steps is sharing client and employee testimonials and stories on LinkedIn or any social platforms your company has. This builds a trusting brand that new hires will be looking for when applying for jobs.

Top Skills to Be on the Lookout For

Okay, now you’re active on LinkedIn and have put effort into marketing yourself to potential employees — What’s next?

There are top skills that are being sought after in the 2022 job hiring market. These skills revolve around an individual being adaptable to situations and roles. Along with being adaptable, these following traits should be considered as a hiring manager listed by Hire Digital:

  • Technology 
  • Problem-Solving
  • Project Management
  • Digital Marketing
  • Team Player in a Remote Environment

Are you positive your company has a positive company culture? Oftentimes the positive phrases plastered over a company website don’t ring true for current employees. Learn more by reading the five signs you have a company culture on our blog.

Count me in!

Practical steps you can take to make your company culture (and yourself) even better.

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