Five ways to create a good company culture
Times are changing. Society is becoming more aware of not just physical health but also mental health. It is beneficial for managers to be emotionally intelligent, especially with the amount of companies out there, it is more important than ever to make sure your company has a good culture, or you will not get the results you want. Worst case scenario you could end up losing good employees because they’re not happy with you, or a low company morale could become apparent to your customers who might leave because of it. So how do you create a company culture that your workers want to stay in? Here are a few suggestions:
Invest in your employees
This is probably the most important point, because employees who feel invested in will invest in you and your company. No one feels inspired or motivated to perform to their highest potential if they feel they get nothing for it, regardless of their position in the business. Therefore you, as a manager, needs to do things that makes your workers feel valued and appreciated. Make sure they have the equipment they need and that it’s of good quality. Throw out the old and dirty gear and replace it with new technology that helps them perform. You can also organise events and company outings to promote community and teamwork among your workers.
Have regular check-ups with your team
This is related to the previous point, but it’s so important it gets its own part. Once you’ve started doing these things to create a good atmosphere you need to measure your results to ensure that your employees stay happy and satisfied. A great way to do this is to either organise regular meetings with your team or have a one-to-one with each of your team members every month. Preferably both. Ask them how they’re getting on, what struggles they are facing, if they want any changes etc. and do your best to meet their requirements. This will show your workers that you care about their well-being and will inspire them to do their best since they will respect you and like you better for it.
Preach the cause, not the product
Determine what your company wants to accomplish, aside from selling your product or service. Is your cause to deliver great customer service, or to fight global warming, or bring people together, or inspire others like you in whatever it may be? It’s much easier to inspire people to work for a cause rather than simply sell, sell, sell. Leave the selling part for the sales team (they may be the exception to this particular rule) but make them aware of the cause as well. That way if one job didn’t go as you’d planned, your workers and you can get past it because you all know that you’re working towards a common goal.
Hire wisely
Once you know the cause for the company and the company culture you want to achieve, make sure you keep that in mind when you interview potential new employees. Ask them what their values are, where they want to get, what they think makes a good company culture, their views on customer service, to get an idea of whether or not they will fit your team. Don’t just go by credentials, but factor in personality as well.
And finally…Realise that you’re a team
When you run a company you to have to lead your team, but that doesn’t mean you should do everything yourself. Trust your employees, and they will trust you. Contrary to popular belief, if you wait around for your employees to earn your trust, that’s a slower process than simply giving it to them from the start. Sure, trust may be lost, but don’t micromanage because you’re afraid those who work for you won’t do the job right. One of the biggest challenges as a manager is to sit back and have faith that the people working for you will do something as well as you could. However, if you do that you may find that they actually do the task better than you, if you let them. Be a leader, not a dictator.
