How to Foster a Strong Company Culture

There are a number of ways one can define an organization. Some make use of their profit margins to demonstrate their company’s growth in the industry while others make use of recognitions or awards to showcase the achievements the firm has achieved in a span of time. However, we tend forget that this is not the forefront of defines a company as a whole. The aforementioned are just the superficial illustrations of describing an organization. If we are to dig deeper, what really defines a company are the people.

The Backbone of Every Company

As most would know, the backbone of any company are their employees from those holding positions in top management to those working in the mail room. The company’s performance is dependent as well on the performance of its employees as each individual represents a part of the organization. With this, if employees are indeed the backbone of the company then what should their heads and managers do in order to ensure that each employee deliver significant results? The answer to this is a strong company culture.

Need for Company Culture

A company culture is an integral part of any organization that affects almost every aspect of the business. Often than not, this is usually associated as the personality of the company that defines the type of work environment the employees work in. From recruitment all the way to maintaining employee satisfaction in the workplace, it serves as a key pillar of any business.

When overlooked, it can cause a chain reaction of negative consequences for the company. Based on a research from Deloitte, 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe that a distinct company culture is significant factor to a business’ success. The study also expresses a strong correlation between employee satisfaction and a strong company culture with results mentioning how employees mentioning how they are happy at work. Given all of this, how does one generate a strong company culture?

Create a Vision or Purpose

When building up a company from its foundation, it is vital to envision something that is both great and long-lasting. Every business starts out small, however, as it continues to grow, there are more people involved and it gets more difficult to keep people in check or in line. To avoid this situation from occurring, a purpose must be established where the employees can go back to and align themselves with. Whatever vision or purpose this may be, it has to be unique, inspirational and ambitious. But above all, this needs to be what management believes is right for the company and will lead it to the right direction.

Find the Common Denominator

Though top management will be the creating the purpose of vision of the company, it is imperative that they also take into consideration those under them. An important reminder management should keep in mind is to align themselves with their employees and vice versa when it comes to their values and principles. This makes the work process more coherent and cohesive which must be the end goal of the company. When people don’t come into terms, this is usually when issues and problems begin to emerge and take shape.

Show Not Tell

To set the company culture in place, it must be shaped and molded by their leaders. However, there is more to it than just writing it on a piece of paper. As how John Maxwell would put it “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” What better way to exemplify what the company stands for but through their leaders? In other words, how can your employees trust or believe in the company culture if their own boss doesn’t embody it? As a leader, it is important to lead by example and be transparent as this will go a long way in sustaining the culture that was envisioned.

No One is Above the “Law”

Nowadays, we hear some millennials use the phrase “fake it till you make it.”  Little do they know that this doesn’t work in the real world especially in a corporate setup. Integrity is one of the most common values in every organization and is described as “doing the right thing even when nobody’s watching”. If anyone can’t trust you then you don’t have much to stand on. Every action committed by a person makes him accountable and responsible for it. As such, it is without question that every employee must act with honesty and transparency even that of their superiors. At the end of day, everyone falls under the same rules and policies and not above it.

Treat People as People

Whether you are the CEO, director or manager of a department, it is of utmost importance to treat everyone equally. In short, treat your employees well and not like objects you can control or manipulate. There won’t be any point in fostering a strong company culture if there’s no one to be part of it given your high turnover rate.

However, this doesn’t mean that the management will succumb to the bidding the employees as well. Skills can be easily taught or passed on to others but attitude and character is another discussion. The ideal work setup is that both employees and the management must be able to support one another in reaching each other’s goals.

All in all, these are just some of the many ways to form a company culture. Nonetheless, a company’s culture should not be directed just by the common guidelines, rules or trends given by others but should be driven by the company and what it stands for. This makes a company culture more centered and geared towards the ideals and goals set by the management and its employees.