Organizational culture is a term used to describe the personality of an organization and relates to the behaviours and beliefs that employees express while in their work environment.
This can include how they act within the organization, how they engage with one another, their personal goals, and more. Additionally, it describes how the employees of a business understand its mission, vision, and goals.
As much as 94% of entrepreneurs and 88% of job seekers say that a healthy culture at work is vital for success, but not a lot of people know how to improve company culture. If you’re struggling with this, these tips should help.
On this page
Build a company culture plan
The first thing you need to realize is that company culture can’t happen overnight and without any work. You shouldn’t wait for it to happen organically, but rather you should work toward your goal of healthy company culture and see it as a mission. And for a mission to be successful, you need to plan it.
Here are a few things to include in your company culture plan:
- Mission statement and company values. More than anything else, people are typically driven by causes. When you have a clear mission statement and set company values, your employees will know what drives the business and how they’re expected to behave.
- Culture roadmap. Layout all the things you think need to be done so you could promote a healthy culture, and how you can convey them to your employees. Make sure to let your employees know that company culture is a priority.
- Survey questions. Draw up surveys for your employees and send them out regularly. In them, ask your employees how they feel about your company’s culture and if there are any things they would change. Remember that employee feedback is an invaluable asset.
You can use your business plan as an inspiration for your company culture plan. And if you don’t have a business plan, you should change that immediately by using a business plan template to create it much more quickly and easily.
Don’t forget employee gifts
Who doesn’t love a gift? We use gifts to show appreciation, affection, and gratitude. However, most people see gift-giving as something that only happens between close friends and loved ones.
But that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, corporate gifting has significantly risen in popularity over the past few years. Nowadays, you can have a significant influence on company culture if you present your employees with gifts.
Presenting your workers with items that align with your company’s culture is a great way to reinforce company values and remind employees of what’s really important. If you personalize the gifts and show they come from the heart, you will prove how much employees truly mean to your company.
Employee gifts can not only improve your company culture, but they can also increase productivity, improve retention, and increase employee satisfaction. And when employees are happy and satisfied, they are much more likely to show up to work with a smile on their faces and a desire to work.
If you don’t have any ideas on what to give to your employees, Hoppier has some great team gifts ideas that are bound to help you improve company culture.
Think about employee wellbeing
A company with a fantastic culture usually has happy employees who aren’t under a lot of stress, so they enjoy coming to work.
Well-being is incredibly important, so you should want your employees to feel like your office is a safe space. The effects of stress on mental health can be severe, so if you’re trying to improve company culture, you should also be looking for ways to keep employees stress-free and relaxed.
Talk about wellness and wellbeing with your employees. See if they’re feeling overworked, rally team spirit whenever you can, and remind them you’re always available if they want to talk.
Put an emphasis on employee recognition
A big part of creating an ideal company culture is hiring the right people who aren’t only good employees but also fit in well in the company. But sometimes, managers forget to show those employees how much they’re appreciated, and that can negatively impact company culture.
As much as 44% of employees switch jobs because of not getting adequate recognition for their efforts. This means you will have to look for the next perfect employee more frequently than you would like, and that’s no way to keep a company culture healthy, or even stable.
To keep your employees happy, don’t forget to show recognition for all of their valuable contributions and great work. Additionally, make sure to especially recognize the actions that specifically align with your company’s values and goals, and reward them if you can.
And most importantly of all, get everyone in the company in on it. Peer-to-peer recognition is a good way to make sure everyone in the office is recognized for their work, and when appreciation comes from all places, it feels more impactful.
Final thoughts
Strong company culture isn’t impossible to achieve. However, you’ll have to work hard towards company culture improvement every day and have it evolve with your organization. The strategies we talked about here are what you need to get started, and that is much more than some companies do.
Image sources: Freepik Premium