94% of executives believe a distinct corporate culture is important to an organizations success. In this article we take a look at positive corporate culture, the companies who are known to have achieved it and the key ways a company can curate their culture into a powerful machine that retains both clients and employees.
Organizations that feel alive and engaging are more profitable. Employees that love to come to work and customers that feel valued are all key elements of positive strong company culture. What drives this kind of positivity and business momentum? How does an organization nurture a positive company culture?
Creating a positive company culture takes time to build and perfect, but it can be done and has been by some of the finest workforces in the world. When you think about positive company culture Google always comes to mind. Other top listed companies include Facebook, Adone, Zappos and Twitter. In this article, we look at the key ways that leaders curate. Here are the 5 key ways that leaders curate their company culture into a powerful machine that retains both clients and employees alike.
1. Identify the Organization’s Core Values.
Ironically, a positive company culture revolves around the problems of their customers. That is, the company exists because it solves a unique set of problems in a special way. Your company’s core values find their roots in the problems of its customers, its role in their lives, and the satisfaction that they receive as a result of working with your organization.
Usually, an organization’s core values face both inward and outward. Values that look inward are concerned with the personnel within the organization. What core values keep teams working optimally? And what values set the organization’s workforce apart from other companies?
Outbound-facing values focus on the way your organization treats customers. As you solve customer problems, what values help them feel valued and delighted? What core values set your customer service apart from competitors?
Far from a philosophical exercise, performing a core values “audit” on your organization can help everyone get back to the basics of why your company is successful. Without reminding yourself and others of your organization’s core values, the company may evolve into something far less impactful to your target audience and your employees.
2. Write, Revise, or Rehearse the Company Mission Statement.
If you do not have a company mission statement, you should build one. After identifying your company core values, work together with the leaders in your organization to develop a simple, compelling mission statement that encapsulates those values. The mission statement should be broad enough to be relevant as technology changes and specific enough to set it apart from other mission statements.
Done properly, merging the organization’s goals into a compelling mission will endear your employees and customers to your brand. It is telling a story of why your customers matter and how your company can make a difference in their lives. Doing so will have a unifying effect on organizational culture both inside and outside your organization. This kind of loyalty can be measured into stronger profits, as studies can attest.
More often than not, company mission statements are ill-composed and outdated. It is perfectly appropriate to redraft the company mission statement as necessary as the company grows. Afterward, take some time to discuss the importance of the organization’s mission with managers. Task them with rehearsing the company mission with their team members.
3. Increase Employee Engagement.
How much of an impact will your company's core values and mission make among your employees? If they are engaged, it can inspire greater purpose and a renewed sense of innovation toward the problems of your customers. However, if employees are not engaged, it will have little to no effect on your employees.
In a recent Gallup poll, only 1/3 of US employees felt engaged at work. Three out of the four recommendations by Gallup pertain to nurturing strong leaders who then know how to inspire their work teams. What you most want from your organization is an engaged group of people committed to the same set of values for the sake of each other and your customers. All to say, when all levels of employees feel motivated to care about the company’s values, then engagement becomes contagious and a positive culture grows.
While leadership is a critical component of employee engagement, neglect often contributes to dissatisfaction among co-workers. Management must be willing to actively listen to team members and address critical concerns at all levels of the organization.
4. Help Managers Become Leaders.
According to Forbes, “Companies that are highly engaged have one thing in common: They have highly engaged leadership at all levels of the organization.”
If you wish to take employee engagement seriously, then you will want to empower your managers. You need leaders that align with the organization’s core values and can mentor their work teams. Create corporate culture goals for your managers, creating a company corporate goal brings team members together and gives everyone something specific to work towards.
5. Share your vision
Part of creating a good company culture is putting it into practice, not just theory. Open communication of the company's values, vision and goals to new hires as part of the onboarding process is important. Communication of the same to existing teams all contribute to overall corporate culture success. This also means, of course, that management should lead by example, showing employees on a daily basis that you believe in the organization’s values and have crafted a path for them to follow.
In Conclusion
Company profits are short-lived if the organization cannot sustain its current operations. The energy has got to come from somewhere. Organizations that understand this level of sustainability focus on building a positive company culture. Why? Because culture can build or destroy loyalty. It can empower those within the organization.
That’s why smart employers focus on their core values and crafting a mission based on those values. They inspire employee engagement by focusing on leadership development and then trusting the leaders that they mentored. When this happens, employees feel valued and want to contribute to and be part of the organizations success.
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