What’s the biggest commonality you notice between most successful and long-standing companies? The number of sales per year? The large number on their bottom line? How many employees they have? Let me tell you the biggest commonality… It’s a positive culture!
Positive culture has been proven time and time again to boost productivity, decrease employee turnover, and increase employee engagement. There is no fix-all that will work for every workplace, but there are a few methods that will get you on the right path:
Build a team of teammates
If you put together a team of people who are in it for each other, you are almost guaranteed to have more success than a team of people who are trying to succeed for their own good. High-performing employees will not help your team or company reach its potential if they only care about their individual success. You might not even notice the power of a well-oiled team until you experience a team that is not working “with” or “for” each other. Teams like the latter are bound to implode over time, ruining any existing positive culture.
Hire for culture over skills
Regardless of what you may think or hear, skills can be taught more times than not. It may be in your best interest to hire for culture instead of simply hiring based on skills. If an employee aligns with your workplace culture and values, they will be willing to learn almost anything that helps them further the goals of the organization. Put your people first and the outcomes you imagine will come.
Look further ahead than tomorrow
As great as it is to offer substantial compensation, benefits, and fun activities for your employees, most are looking for a job that provides them an opportunity to be challenged and fulfilled. Employees want to learn and grow, engaging in back-and-forth feedback with leaders and peers. This is what will take them to the next level as contributors. Rather than getting stuck in the day-to-day work, think further in the future and help your team see what future goals look like. Providing a look at the future will give employees motivation and guidance when completing day-to-day work.
Live your culture 24/7/365
It can be typical to push and promote your workplace culture at the annual celebration and quarterly meetings, afterwards putting it back in your pocket. You can live out your culture daily without putting in too much extra effort or money. Within your leadership communications, your project execution, your daily encounters… Those are some of the situations in which your culture can shine. Culture is a daily philosophy and so everybody should be doing their part to make that happen!
Culture does take time, money, and energy, but it doesn’t have to be anything extravagant. All you must do is get started!
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