Company culture is more important than you may think.
As a business owner, it’s in your power to set in place a company culture that either elevates the spirits and productivity of your employees, or one that undermines your employees’ efforts and minimizes the chances of your long-term success as a business.
Here are some ways that, as a business owner, you can set the right company culture in place from day one….
- Set Policies in Place
Company policies need to be written and distributed to every employee. Setting policies in place that cover company culture is a great way to get your company atmosphere across to everyone who works for you.
If your company culture is of concern to you – and it should be – you can easily write out an entire section of your company policies that is devoted to culture.
- Decorate Accordingly
Your office décor should reflect your company culture. A work environment with an open door policy should have glass walls, half-height cubicle partitions or an open floor plan.
A company culture that models itself after some place like the Google headquarters might have brightly painted walls, artistic light fixtures or modern sling chairs.
In essence, anyone visiting your offices should be to make a good guess about your company culture just by seeing how it’s decorated.
- Lead by Example
Your employees and department heads will take their lead from you, so lead by example. How you dress, behave and interact with everyone will influence how others behave while you’re around, and even when you’re not looking. Your company culture will influence the people who apply to your company, too.
As the following article looks at, if you’re wondering why many top engineers choose company culture over big names, it’s often because they are seeking a mentor in their field. Leading by example may mean you get to hire the best employees in the talent pool.
- Set Props in Motion
Props in the workplace help to make it the environment for work that you want it to be. If you’re going for a fun place to work, a kid’s basketball hoop on the wall makes sense. If you’re seeking a company culture of success, posters with inspirational sayings makes sense.
A company culture that values families would do well to have a bulletin board where employees can post pictures or announcements of their kids making Little League.
- Reward Accordingly
If you want to have a company culture that values education, then you should reward those employees who want to advance their career through continuing education or certification.
When other employees see that the path to promotion is paved with education credits, they will be quick to follow suit. The result is that your workforce will be highly educated and motivated to improve themselves through education.
Don’t let your company culture happen accidentally.
With some proactive steps and thinking, your company can be a great place to work and be a good example for the rest of your community.
About the Author: Kate Supino writes extensively about best business practices.
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