How to Improve and Strengthen Your Company Culture
There is a school of thought that a company is only as strong as the people who make it what it is, and if you want a strong company, it’s time to focus on improving your company culture. It may sound like just another catchword of the 21st century, but there are several reasons why focusing on building a unique and totally identifiable company culture is of vital importance. Let’s look at some of those reasons and how you can use them to build a strong and productive company culture.
Defining Your Mission Is the First Step in Improving Company Culture
Sometimes directors and company owners lose sight of the fact that they have a vision in mind but that those who work with and for them don’t share the same vision. It’s not that they are at odds with what you are trying to accomplish but rather that they haven’t been clearly informed as to what you hope to build. A strong company culture works to build a team where everyone is on the same page.
Having said that, don’t be alarmed when you find that some of your employees don’t fit the mold and you may need to determine whether they will be counter-productive to your agenda. In fact, it is always recommended that startups define their company culture before staffing their organization. In so doing, you can easily find those people who are of a like mind. Unfortunately, for those companies that want to improve their company’s culture, it will take a bit more work, but it can be done.
Visual Reminders Are a Key Strategy
Have you ever gone into someone’s home or office where they have all those little affirmations posted everywhere from the refrigerator to the bulletin board? Perhaps the CEO has little affirmations posted around their monitor or the team leader has goals posted to keep on target for the day or week’s quota.
Once you have defined your company culture, you can give literally everyone from the lowest paid hourly worker to the CEO a visual reminder they will want to keep at hand. Have you considered handing out custom made lapel pins? Perhaps your company motto or logo would make for a great design and a reminder of what they stand for as an employee of your company. Again, it all reverts back to defining what that culture is, so those little visuals must be in keeping with that!
Build a Commitment to a Shared Company Mission
Sometimes this takes a bit of trial and error, but there is a way to help your team build that necessary commitment to your shared company mission. Sometimes referred to as a company’s driving purpose, this mission must be embraced by all. Anyone working at odds with your company can result in that dreaded domino effect, bringing everyone in line down with them. But how can you keep everyone on the same page?
This is where a great number of companies set team building time aside, on the clock, of course, where leaders can help keep their personal teams focused. In order to improve a company’s culture, it is necessary to keep everyone moving in the same direction. Remember that your focus must not be totally on raising your bottom line but on other key factors such as better customer service, satisfied employees, and higher quality production. All of that will, in the end, improve your bottom line, but it will also better define just what your company is all about – your mission.
A Quick Summary
In this case, it would be to build better relationships with clients through improved customer service and quality products produced by satisfied employees. The first step in improving your company culture is to define it through a well-developed mission statement. The second step is bringing people on board who share your commitment and the final step is building a customer base as the natural result of a strong company culture. See how that works? It’s amazing really when you piece it all together into a cohesive whole. That’s what a strong company culture is all about.
