Defining Your Company Culture

Importance of company culture

Company culture plays a critical role in recruiting and retaining great talent. All organizations, regardless of the industry, must prioritize creating and enforcing a cohesive company culture. Culture acts a guideline for all stakeholders including shareholders, employees, management, and customers. It drives business productivity and increases revenues, simply because people perform better when they’re happy. This carefully curated culture should reflect your company’s mission and values in such a way that shapes the work environment. Without the proper foundation and guidelines being put in place, your workplace will be dysfunctional.

Develop your culture

When shaping your organization’s culture, it’s important to lay it out it in a culture statement and adhere to it. Think about the type of environment you’d enjoy working in every day and ask yourself what does it look like, how are people’s attitudes, what are your daily goals? The most successful businesses have a culture centered around innovation, transparency, communication, autonomy, respect, etc. These are important details to consider when formulating your organization’s culture. Once it’s outlined, you must align it with your value and mission statements. Your culture statement can be used when recruiting new talents as a visual of what to expect when working for your company.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when developing your company culture:

• Focus on Diversity AND Inclusion. The job does not stop at simply recruiting the most diverse top talent. For employees to feel truly valued, it’s important to promote inclusivity within the workplace. Once you establish a sense of belonging for everyone, employees will bring their best self forward.

• Making it apart of your organization’s DNA, requires you to align every aspect of your business with your desired culture. It should be reflected in your leadership management, policies, operations, and initiatives. Everybody has a part to play in creating a great company culture.

• Focus on helping everyone thrive on their path to personal develop. Millennials appreciate companies that give them the ability to explore different interests through investing in their learning and development. With this flexibility, employees will feel confident to show up to work as their true and genuine selves.

• Have fun with it! Nobody wants to feel like they are just a number. Find ways to frame deliverables through a lens of possibility and creativity. This helps to cultivate an innovative, collaborative, an open workspace.

Culture constantly evolves

Your company culture must be continuously evaluated, as company needs change an society evolve. Corporate organization’s company culture traditionally included professional attire, top-down communication, a lack of autonomy, and respect for seniority. Today companies have begun to shift their focus to create more innovative workplace cultures. As society evolves and business needs grow, your company must change their culture as well. This a great way to create an open line for employee input so that they are involved in decision making. Their opinion matters as we work to shape a culture that attracts and retains talent. It's important to remain abreast on everything happening inside and outside of your company so that you culture is up to date.