United States: New Year, New You: Making Company Culture Deliberate

Company culture is an essential part of any successful business. Often in the midst of developing or growing a business, enhancing company culture may be overlooked.  This, however, can be a missed opportunity to grow and strengthen your company. The better your culture is, the easier it is to not only attract top talent but to retain these employees. Great people want to work with great people. A healthy company culture results in engaged, productive and satisfied employees.

That said, here are few awesome tips on how you can improve your company's culture:

1. Care About Your Company's Culture

Make culture a priority and be deliberate about it. Company culture does not just happen. It is not created by sending out an email or creating a new policy; it requires active participation and collaboration. Improving company culture also needs to come from the top down. When employees see leadership buying in, they are then more likely to buy in. At ORBA, we have a partially remote Cloud Services team, which we strive to stay connected with through video conferencing, lunch and learns and different "get to know you" opportunities.

2. Define Your Company's Values and Practice Them

This may mean that you must determine what your values are and how they contribute to your success. Make sure that your employees not only know your company's core values, but also that they see them in practice. To develop your culture and have it become an integral part of your company, you need to develop genuine core values and stick to them.

3. Recognize and Reward Achievements

Reward employees whose work exemplifies the culture that you are working towards. Make sure to make time to celebrate their contributions and anniversaries. It can be a major motivation boost for your team to hear the positive results of their work. How is this for further motivation: Employers who offer incentives for good work see a return on equity three  times higher than those that do not, according to Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick, co-authors of The Carrot Principle. Ignoring someone's contribution is a sure-fire way to make them feel unappreciated or taken for granted.

4. Communication is Leadership

Communicate with your team about company objectives, performance and new initiatives. This allows people to understand not only what is expected of them, but also that they play a part in the bigger picture of the company. This develops a sense of ownership which leads to loyalty and dedication. Embrace transparency, but remember that transparency is not the same as democracy. Transparency in a company means, "We'll tell you how the process works and what goes into it, but we do not make decisions by consensus. Someone owns it and we trust them to make the right decision."  Most of the dysfunction that happens in a company of any size happens behind closed doors. The more light you can shine on the process, the better the outcomes and the better the decisions.

5. Hire the People that You Set Out to Hire

Do not compromise. Be wary of hiring because you need someone; hire someone that embodies your core values or your culture. Focus on candidates who have the relevant skills and also best reflect the values and beliefs of your company. An impulsive or toxic hire out of necessity will have a negative impact on your team and even potential new hires.

Work these suggestions for company culture into your business goals for 2017. By doing so, your company becomes a coveted place to work by top industry talent and  your employees will reward you with increased loyalty and productivity.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.