How to Build a Strong Company Culture From the Ground Up
When most people think of great company culture, ping-pong tables, ball pits, free snacks, nap rooms, and casual attire at the office typically spring to mind. But company culture goes so much deeper than just perks for employees.
In this article, we will explain the importance of having a strong company culture while breaking down the most important elements of a successful organizational culture.
What Is Company Culture and Why Is It So Important?
Organizational culture is defined by your business practices that reflect its core values, ethics, expectations, goals, and overall work environment.
This can also include perks for employees – which 53% of working professionals have said contribute to a better quality of work-life – but it’s important to understand that cultivating a strong organizational culture takes a lot of work and involves more than just superficial benefits. Simply put, culture must be built from the ground up and cannot be bought.
When your culture is strong, and you maintain a positive working environment, this leads to happier, more loyal, and more productive employees.
What Are the Key Elements of a Successful Culture?
Freedom and Responsibility
Many organizations focus their efforts on enforcing strict rules and rigid processes when they should be focused on empowering their employees and putting their trust in them to make the right decisions and do great work. With such processes in place, this can result in employees feeling stifled creatively and restricted on how they can or cannot act.
But rather than eliminating rules and processes altogether, it’s important to implement flexible processes that improve productivity as opposed to limiting people’s behaviour.
This can include keeping others in the loop regarding updates on certain projects or scheduling regular meetings to discuss strategies and goals.
Aligned Departments
Keeping teams detached and divided into silos with separate sets of goals often leads to miscommunication and conflict. Instead, keep all departments aligned and encourage collaboration and open communication.
Set (And Stick To) Your Core Values
As previously mentioned, your culture should be guided by your business’s core values. Therefore, in order to have a strong culture, these values need to be clearly defined and implemented (and stuck with) long-term.
Encourage Communication and Feedback
Miscommunication is one of the most significant factors leading to conflict both in the workplace and life in general. Therefore, in order to build a strong organizational culture, communication is key.
Leverage communication and collaboration tools, encourage regular meetings and check-ins, and encourage staff to speak up and offer feedback so your company can learn and grow. When the lines of communication are left open, it leaves little room for things to get misconstrued and for staff to feel their voices aren’t being heard.
It’s true what they say. Your business is only as strong as the people you have working for you. Building a strong organizational culture helps your team feel valued and supported, and sets them up for productivity, job satisfaction, and overall success in their roles, so both your team and the business can thrive.
