Company culture determines employee productivity, motivation, well-being, and engagement.
Great company culture is vital in creating and nurturing the necessary traits to ensure business success. Companies with thriving cultures have high employee satisfaction and retention rates because they invest in employees.
Corporate culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage that is completely within the control of the entrepreneur. Develop a strong corporate culture first and foremost.
However, achieving and maintaining healthy company culture is often challenging. Only about 31% of HR executives agree that their companies have the right culture. So, what makes a company culture great? Let’s explore company culture, why it’s essential, and how to build and sustain a healthy culture.
What is Company Culture?
Company culture is a combination of values, attitudes, and beliefs that form the guiding principles for all employees. It shapes the employee experiences, perceptions, and behaviors in the workplace.
Why Company Culture Matters
Company culture has significant effects on all aspects of your organization. A healthy company culture makes employees feel valued, comfortable, and supported. They are more likely to remain with the company during challenging times.
Culture is also the key to attracting and retaining top talent. Studies show that 77% of job seekers consider the company culture before submitting applications.
Benefits of Company Culture
Company cWhat is Company Culture?ulture directly affects the essential KPIs in the HR sector.
The main benefits include:
- Financial Gains
- Customer Service
- Brand Image
Happy employees propel your company to success. When the company culture promotes transparency and trust, employees have a sense of purpose. They have higher engagement levels and offer better services for more substantial business results.
Happy employees are more productive, efficient, and creative in relating with customers. Satisfied employees deliver better customer service.
The company culture directly affects the brand image. Companies with toxic work environments can experience a drop in sales if the customers learn about the same.
What Are the Components of Company Culture?
Every company is different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all culture guideline. The traits in the company culture define your company and bring out the positive qualities in employees.
The company culture consists of six aspects:
1. Vision
This involves what the future of your company looks like. Mapping out what the company wants to achieve in five or so years positively affects the culture.
2. Values
Every successful business has inspirational company values. They should be genuine and contribute to the decision-making process in your company.
3. Practices
This involves putting into action what the company promises. If you say you’ll put customers first, employees need to see it in action.
4. People
People and culture are inseparable. Investing in a culture of collaboration and your employees’ well-being and future results in lower churn and turnover rates.
5. Narrative
Your company’s story significantly shapes the culture. For instance, if your company prides itself in team-building, your Instagram page should have photos from internal events.
6. Place
The physical environment at your workplace can affect the company culture. It’s essential to build an environment that inspires employees to contribute and feel welcome.
Company Culture Examples
1. Bluecore’s Company Culture
Bluecore’s top two priorities are employee and customer success and satisfaction. They complement each other to create effective internal and external brand ambassadors. You can nurture a culture that focuses on customer success. If your team works together towards the same goal, you’ll create a mutual triumph, collaboration, and teamwork culture.
2. Blackbaud’s Company Culture
Blackbaud’s company culture revolves around the passion for giving back. They practice giving back by planning service projects for their teams, allowing time off work to volunteer, and facilitating company matches for charity.
This culture unites people with a mutual passion for nonprofits and ensures all team members work towards the same goal. You can create a culture of devotion by hiring like-minded people who reinforce your mission.
3. Zappos
Zappos shoe brand is well-known for its popular shoes, but the employees also report a phenomenal company culture.
Zappos holds a cultural fit interview which is reportedly weighted 50% when determining whether the candidate is hired. Additionally, in order to weed out any employees who are on the fence about their new role or those who are just there for the paycheck, management has previously offered new employees $2,000 to quit after the training period. Zappos also has a track record of promoting from within the existing team and encouraging professional development and growth. This ensures that employees have opportunities for advancement and helps keep employees from leaving their jobs.
Fostering a positive company culture can be difficult. However, when you equip your team with the proper tools to transparently track targets, measure performance, and award and recognize employee contributions, you can reach your goals faster. Profit.co can help you boost employee engagement and performance. Get started for free today!
Building an Organizational Culture
Every company is different, so it’s essential to retain the unique aspects. It’s best to cultivate qualities such as:
- Alignment
- Trust
- Performance
- Resilience
- Integrity
- Innovation
- Psychological safety
- Define Your Company’s Core Values and What You Stand For
- Encourage Frequent, Transparent Internal Communication
- Align Your Company Culture with Your Business Goals
- Promote Shared Values
- Offer and Receive Feedback
- Ensure Consistency
- An eroding reputation within the company and in the market
- Decreasing customer feedback and engagement
- High employee turnover and churn rates
- Stalling company initiatives
Your company’s objectives should align with employee motivation. Alignment is a continuous process that involves the company’s goals, purpose, and vision.
A culture of trust is where team members feel comfortable expressing themselves. They can count on others to offer support when venturing into new projects.
In a performance culture, talented employees support and motivate each other to improve and excel. The result is enhanced business profitability and better productivity.
A resilient culture helps employees anticipate and respond to any changes without affecting performance.
A culture of integrity includes honesty and transparency. Team members can depend on each other to form partnerships, make decisions and interpret results.
A culture of innovation helps your company leverage the available markets, resources, and technologies. Team members can use creativity in all business aspects.
Psychological safety means creating an atmosphere that supports honest feedback and taking risks. Team leaders should ensure everyone is comfortable contributing in a safe environment.
How to Build a Company Culture
1. Start From Where You Stand
The best place to start is where you are, regardless of the number of team members. Talk to your employees and find out the unique qualities of your workplace. They will help you understand what defines your culture and the basis of your company values.
2. Set the Boundaries
A great company culture requires hard work. Think about the experience you want employees to have and what you want customers to see. It helps you determine acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and how employees can contribute to company culture.
3. Be a Role Model
The company culture is how you implement your values, vision, and mission. If your core values include transparency and integrity, define what that looks like and act accordingly.
4. Measure the Progress
Regular feedback is the most effective way to determine whether you’re achieving the desired experience. Ask your team to share their thoughts and recommendations on how to improve.
How to Sustain a Company Culture
After you’ve established a company culture that makes your employees feel appreciated and helps foster a more productive, motivating work environment, you must learn how to sustain it.
If your employees understand the core values and practice them, you can easily create a unique culture.
Defining the company culture and values is only effective if there’s transparent internal communication. All leaders in the company should ensure everyone understands the company culture for better performance.
The best way to sustain your company culture is by aligning it with the essential KPIs and overall business goals. It helps your employees understand what areas to focus on.
Company Culture Best practices
Although skills and competencies are essential, personal values determine one’s behavior. Encourage your team to share their values to understand how they affect them individually and as a team.
It’s best to focus on specific behavior when giving feedback. Discuss the effects it had and address conflicts in comfortable conversations. Building trust with your team will make it easier to provide constructive feedback when problems do arise.
Constantly starting things only to stop after some time creates employee distrust in the management. It’s best to select one thing at a time and implement it, whether that’s an incentive program, performance reviews, a new strategy or a project management style.
How Does Company Culture Impact Outcomes?
A strong culture can cause fewer disagreements and can enhance cooperation, trust, and efficiency when making decisions.
When employees understand the essential aspects of the company’s culture, they identify stronger with your company. They strive to ensure that their behaviors align with the culture at work.
FAQs
What Are the Signs of Dysfunctional Company Culture?
Why Is It Challenging to Change a Toxic Work Culture?
If different company aspects communicate conflicting information, the culture becomes confusing. For instance, if the leaders’ behavior doesn’t mirror what they expect from employees, the mismatch fosters toxic traits.
Any new initiatives or standards for the culture should apply to all team members across the company– from the newest hire to the CEO.
How Can You Hire Candidates Who Fit the Company Culture?
When hiring, ensure you express the core values and beliefs during the interview and allow time for questions. Find out how they feel about the culture description and their motivation to work with you. It helps you determine whether their expectations align with your culture.
Conclusion
With a great company culture, it’s easier to attract and retain top talent. Your existing employees become brand ambassadors, which benefits your business.
Take your business to the next level by nurturing culture and encouraging all team members to achieve their full potential.
Also, make sure you have the right software to help you reach your full potential– to learn how Profit.co can help you focus on your most important goals and measure your progress, book a free demo with our experts today!