Once you have a company culture set, you might think that the job is done. However company culture is a forever changing system that needs to be polished as time goes on. Different times – different people and standards. Something that used to work a few years back, might now be inappropriate.
Besides simply changing up your company culture, there should always be a priority of changing it for the better. The main question to ask yourself is whether your employees are satisfied and if not, is it because of a lack of good company culture?
Check out our article on What is company culture before reading this one.
In this article we have put together 10 tips on how to improve company culture so your employees can become more happy and your company more successful.
1. Evaluate your current company culture
The first step is to evaluate the company culture you have going on at the moment. Think about everything that could be updated or improved. Look at your employees and ask yourself – are they motivated by the tasks they complete and the values your company now upholds?
Understanding the state of your company’s culture and recognizing the symptoms of apathy or confusion are essential first steps in determining what needs to be done to foster employee engagement and a productive workplace.
Find out what kind of organizational culture you now have and compare it to your larger business objectives. It might be time to change up the company culture type and see how it works.
2. Open communication and be available
Communication is key, especially in the corporate environment. When communication is lacking, employees may feel isolated or uninformed, unheard. You should create a forum where employees can voice their opinions if they have ideas to improve team performance.
Similarly, team members feel disengaged, unappreciated, and aimless if expectations or updates regarding the status of projects are not communicated. Therefore it is important to make sure you are available for your employees when they need it.
A solution would be to create a common calendar when any employee can set up a 15 minute meeting with a superior if needed. That way the conversation can be planned and realized.
3. Establish company’s purpose
Establishing a purpose for your company is one of the simplest methods to demonstrate what your company is all about and to improve team as well as company culture.
Your employees will have a sense of direction to buy into and support once you have clarified your company’s focus. Employee motivation and productivity are increased when team members understand how their contributions contribute to the larger picture since they then believe their work is actually important.
4. Team building matters
Setting aside time for team-building activities may be essential to fostering the much-needed employee friendships depending on the team company culture you are creating.
Your team will have the opportunity to speak casually and become aware of each other’s capabilities through regular team building activities.
Although it is important to stay professional in the corporate setting, it doesn’t hurt to get to know your colleagues better. In fact it will help your employees to feel more free around each other, share their ideas with one another and work together on further projects.
5. Help your employees grow
While acknowledging employees and providing feedback is crucial, make sure to also provide chances for significant career progress. Surveys show that people quit the most frequently in search of new professional opportunities.
Make a clear plan for your career development that will let your employees grow. To help employees grow in their careers, outline the stages they must take, and include them in individual conversations. Additionally, those rules will make managers answerable for who they promote and why.
6. Create a mentoring program
Many successful companies implement mentoring programs into their company culture. Each new employee gets assigned a mentoring buddy that helps with onboarding and during the adaptation period.
As team members work to improve one another, team culture will advance as a result of implementing these concepts. Mentoring will not only involve your senior team members; it will also open doors for fresh personnel, who might gain a lot from a mentor’s connections and expertise.
7. Trust your employees
Nobody enjoys working under micromanagement. It’s ineffective, inefficient, and does little to foster a culture of trust within your business. You should have faith in your personnel to do their duties well since you employed them.
Embracing your team’s autonomy enables them to transition from being held accountable for their duties to embracing accountability as they start to take on and own their initiatives, a sometimes challenging but wonderfully rewarding leap.
8. Provide learning opportunities
Providing learning opportunities from outside the company is also essential. Adding knowledge from additional sources fosters a culture of curiosity and openness among the team, which boosts productivity.
Also, most of the jobs out there right now require constant learning and keeping up with the corporate trends. Therefore, organizing lectures, TED-talk like events and conferences will be beneficial not only to the employees but the company culture itself.
9. Use digital tools
Employees may be hired by your business to work remotely, on the go, or in your home office. Digital tools make it easier for employees to communicate with one another and feel like they are a part of the same corporate team. Using digital tools in the workplace at this time is not only convenient but often crucial.
Arguably the most useful kind of digital tool that every company can benefit from is one that provides communication functions. To be able to stay in touch and give updates on work progress is very simple with apps that are specially made for that.
10. Compare your company culture to an existing example
The company culture continues to change as new employees are hired. Every worker contributes their unique set of experiences and ideals. It is only expected that each and every company culture will have to be improved at some point. But it might be a good start to find a company whose culture you admire.
Examine workplace cultures that you respect or have personal experience with while thinking about how to create a positive company culture. Adapt these work cultures’ components to fit the company’s vision and purpose.
Check out our articles on Google Company Culture and Fedex Company Culture to get inspired on how to improve company culture of your own.
In conclusion
Changing your company culture is inevitable, therefore you must always be prepared for that. Knowing where to start from is a good way to be prepared.
There are many ways to improve company culture starting with basics such as communication skills and comparing your own company to very successful examples.
