How to create a company culture that sticks
Facebook, Google, Tesla, Zappos, Twitter, SquareSpace etc. These are some of the companies that have set such high standards that every person wants to work for them. But, what is it that they are doing and others are not? Why are they able to become such a desirable option?
Trust me, if you observe closely then you will see that they are doing nothing extraordinary. Yes, they have huge financial reservoirs to invest on their employees. That is a big reason. But, there’s more to them. These companies are thriving on the work culture they have.
They have been setting examples for others to follow on how to handle your resources. After all, it’s the human resources that make a company. But, seldom do businesses realize that they are breeding a toxic work culture. The question is how to create a work culture where employees don’t feel suffocated?
In this post, I’d like to share my fifty cents of knowledge on this -
Hiring the right people
It all begins with having the right people. Technical expertise is one thing. But, fitting to a company’s culture does not have anything to do with that. Sometimes people are technically awesome, but they are not able to adapt to the work culture. And, hence are not able to make the most of their technical expertise.
This is a typical scenario where both the parties have to face the loss. The company is losing money and the person is losing time.
This is where the hiring process becomes so important. People in the hiring team must have a keen vision. They must identify whether the person sitting in front of them will fit into the work culture or not? A great idea to solve this problem can be by defining certain set parameters.
Not just technical expertise, but these parameters must include behavioral aspects as well. And, judging the person on that basis can end this problem!
Strike a balance between formal and informal
Company culture does not always have to be too formal — where people work like machines. Nor should it be where everyone is just jumping around. And, the entire place is too chaotic to find anything or anyone.
The key here is to strike the right balance between formal and informal attributes. Your office should be a place where employees look forward to come every single. It should be a place where they know they will have opportunities to learn, work, and have some fun!
As they say — all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Having a work culture, which focuses just on getting things done and does not pay heed to the emotional needs of the person, can never thrive.
That’s one of the major reasons why companies like Facebook and Google/Alphabet invest thousands of dollars on innovative ways to make their employees have fun at work!
Take small steps
If you’ve been running a business for sometime, then you already have a culture. And, each employee has adapted to that culture. So, bringing major changes all of a sudden can wreck havoc in the team.
Employees are susceptible to change. That’s why it is critical to bring that change slowly. Whether it is switching to a new tool for collaborating at work or any other similar thing, you need to move slow.
For instance, if you are switching to a new tool, then you can start by going for a test run on one of the teams. And, pick up the pace over time, based on the response you get.
Monitor the change
This comes as just the extension the previous step. Like I’ve already said, you need to bring change and bring it slowly. But, you cannot forget to monitor the change. How the team is reacting to it? What is their feedback?
Getting to know all these things can be the most important step in the process. After all, you are doing all this to make the work atmosphere better for the employees. And, their opinion is what matters in the end.
Monitoring will also help to figure out whether you are on the right track or not with your strategies. So, you can pan out the details of what the next step can be for creating a better work culture for your organization.
Create your own culture
Following the footsteps of other organizations is never going to be a good idea. Every team is different. Their priorities, their requirements, their expectations are never the same. What Facebook is doing is good for their employees. But, the same thing might not work for Google or you.
That’s why you must work towards creating a work culture according to your team. Yes, you can pick up some tips and tricks from their handbook. But, only if you think they can fit within your team requirements.
Adopting their ideologies like a copy-cat may lead to employees moving out of the organization rather than sticking around!
So be smart enough to create your own work culture that other organizations see, and try to emulate. And, not the other way around!
That’s all I had to say. Hope these points can help to take your organization’s work culture from good towards better and the best. If you have some other point of views or any other experiences related to the same, do share them. I’d love to hear them.
“Want to create a successful team culture? Stop wasting time on emails, and switch to a ProofHub.”
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Vartika Kashyap is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She currently runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.
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