The workplace is a dynamic environment where people interact with each other, with their colleagues, their teammates, their supervisors; which is why culture building is very important in any organization, big or small. A company’s culture can also affect a company’s brand, its KPIs and its success overall.
Here are my ideas on how to continuously build a company’s culture.
1. Define and document process. Organize a workshop where employees can give inputs on company and operational processes, workflow, and accountabilities. This is beneficial since the documented process will serve as the blueprint of the company for the current and future generations.
2. Encourage open feedback. Open feedback promotes democracy. Democracy promotes fair ways in terms of establishing company policies, rules, and regulations.
3. Stimulate competitiveness/cooperativeness among teams and its members. It is important to stimulate competitiveness among teams in terms of product development and offering; develop cooperativeness among team members in delivering service while having one goal across the organization.
4. Figure out the company’s DNA. Is your company customer-centric, employee-focused, or product-centric? Knowing your company’s DNA will define its direction and perspective for the future.
5. Team building. It is normal for any community to have walls within each other or each other’s groups. Team building will surely remove that wall and promote team work and kindness towards each other.
6. Stimulate positive environment. Leaders in the company should be the ones who should stimulate positivity, kindness, courtesy and discourage negativity. Positivity always wins.
7. Reiterate company vision, mission and core values. Having a company song or anthem or regular reminders of its mission will have a great effect on the company’s culture so everyone is aligned and will have the same mindset.
8. Family-oriented. Family protect its members, help each other, and love each other. Imagine if each one in the organization treat each other as family. I would love that to happen in mine.
9. Task autonomy. Avoid micro managing. Establish the process and KPIs and let employees do their tasks their way. Once they feel they are trusted, a positive environment will follow.
10. Establish work environment as a way of life. If everyone has this mindset, it will be very easy to get up in the morning and work. Work will be like eating, or showering, and a way of life.
Being creative in cultivating a company’s culture should be well-thought out to get the desired response. Inputs from human resources will definitely guide management in crafting the company’s culture. Have you already established your company’s culture? Share your thoughts in the comments section.