Creating Amazing Workplace Cultures
People keep talking about companies with AMAZING culture, and you’re sitting there wondering “how do I get one!?”. They don’t teach you this as you’re starting a business and, unfortunately, many companies learn this the hard way by losing amazing people, getting a bad reputation that takes them years to correct, or just simply, not standing out when compared to other businesses. I’m here to share with you what makes a company culture not just good, but great! Let’s go over the steps you need to follow to get the workplace everyone wishes they were a part of.
I led HR at a large organization who is know for their amazing, one-of-a-kind culture. They have a strong reputation for being a fun place to work, for getting great pay and benefits, and for people feeling part of the bigger picture. Now, when you look on the surface, what this company did for services was similar to many other companies in the community but how they did it was different. And I can tell you, what makes a company great at developing culture is simple, but the actions are difficult. I’ll tell you the secret …
Let’s start here: Culture is the output of what you put in. Read that again.
So what do you need to put in? Here are some steps to get started on creating an amazing workplace culture:
Define your values: This is more than just your company values, this is your department values, too! Write down how would you describe your ideal work environment and team dynamic. What actions do you need to take to achieve this?
Walk the walk: Practice what you are communicating to your team. Team members will adapt to what they see you doing because your actions show them what you value. If you say you value work-life balance, but you are consistently staying late each day, that signals something to your team.
Invest in development: Invest in your team members development through mentorship and learning. Investing not only improves their skills professionally, but allows them to feel more valued and accomplished as a contributing member of the team.
Show appreciation: Acknowledge and appreciate employees’ contributions and achievements regularly. Celebrate milestones, recognize acts of kindness and good performance.
You have a starting point to building what is unique to your company (this is what you’re going to put in). Once you get clear on these steps, each action you take reinforces what you want out of it (YOUR amazing culture).
What makes a company GREAT at this?
The simple answer is that you need to put your values and people first. Every time. The problem is, putting people and values first sometimes means putting business goals second (aka. Sales, operational targets, etc).
Can you do it?