Company culture is an important component of the company. The presence of which cannot be seen but can be felt throughout. Without a positive company culture, companies will eventually struggle with productivity and worth in the industry. This is because it acts as the backbone of the company upon which the value of employees and work is built. 

According to research by TeamStage, 94% of entrepreneurs and 88% of job seekers say that a healthy company culture determines a company's success. Likewise, the best places of work are characterized by happy and productive employees who vouch for positive company culture. Although it's easier said than done, one can heed the following advice to add personality to their company. 

10 ways to build a strong company culture

One of the best features of company culture is that it can be developed irrespective of the company size, budget, or industry. The only focus must be on the overall happiness of everyone in the company, and the rest will follow. Some of the practical ways in which one can create a strong company culture are:

Communicate what your ideal company culture looks like

The first step in building a strong company culture is planning how it looks and communicating the same to your workforce. Spend enough time defining values, morals, purpose, and objectives that set your company a class apart from others. Make sure that each member of your company is on the same page about their understanding of the same. 

Take enough time to practice your core values over and over again. What you speak and do must reflect everything you wish to see in your company culture. Similarly, encourage your employees to practice and take their suggestions too. The best ways to communicate are by sending emails, conducting meetings, and posting banners throughout the office.

Ensure your employees’ all-around wellness

The most influential factor in company culture is your employees. While keeping personal and professional lives separate is best for productivity, problems in either area will affect the other and the overall well-being of the person. For example, somebody could be suffering from insomnia and wants a peaceful start to the day, only to encounter parking problems upon arriving at the office. 

When such problems become a daily occurrence, your employees will come lacking the energy needed to get work done. If your employees aren’t at their healthiest, your entire company culture will be messed up. As a business owner, manager, or team lead, your responsibility is to provide tools, services, and assistance that promote employee engagement. You can learn how to solve parking issues at work and how to have a stress-free work environment so that your employees perform well.

Recruit the right people 

The new people you bring into your company must resonate with the values and core beliefs that your company stands for. Apart from the skills, the recruit should be able to fit into the overall picture of the brand. For example, if your organization defines teamwork in its company culture, but the candidate prefers getting work done by themselves, their contribution to the task might disrupt the entire process. 

During the interviews, look for people who are willing to grow and learn more. The right collaborative attitude within the company will be beneficial in the long run. Similarly, don’t stick to the basics. If you observe skilled people with fresh perspectives, then you can bring diversity to your company ethos.

Appoint cultural ambassadors

There will always be a few people in your company who live and breathe the culture of the company. They are happy with their jobs and love the company as much as you do. Identify them as they are the biggest cheerleaders and the best advocates for your brand. Put them in the limelight so that people within and outside your company are aware of the company culture being followed. 

At regular intervals, take ideas and feedback from your cultural ambassadors to understand where there is a scope for improvement or change. Identifying loopholes in the current culture is necessary to usher in a newer one. As your company grows, more customers will resonate with you through this group. 

Lead by example

If you’re the owner or one of those prominent leaders in the company, understand that all eyes will be on you all the time. Your behavior within the company will be the defining factor in your company culture. When the leaders imbibe and exemplify the ethos, others will be inspired to follow suit. 

At the same time, you need to be transparent and truthful about your actions. You must have an open communication channel within all departments of your company. Your people should feel free to voice their opinion if there is something in your company culture that they no longer resonate with or wish to upgrade to keep up with the times. Company culture keeps evolving, therefore, as a leader, you need to resonate with each version of it. 

Express gratitude to employees

You may have started the company, but it's your employees who are sustaining it. Without them, all success achieved to date means nothing. It is imperative to make note of those people who are not only excelling at their job but also standing strong on corporate values. These are the people who are the face of your company. 

As a leader, it is important for you to express gratitude to such people regularly. Handwritten notes, public recognitions, and corporate perks are a few examples of how you can reward people. Eventually, more people will be empowered to perform better and contribute to building a strong company culture.

Encourage the usage of digital tools 

If the past two pandemic-struck years have taught us anything in the corporate world, it’s that how necessary digital workspaces are for companies. In the digital workplace, you have a centralized location where everyone can be connected. Tools like Slack or Google Workspace are examples. People can collaborate, send feedback, schedule meetings, and hold virtual events on such portals. 

Additional things like working hours, sick leave, and employee performance can be stored on the platform. You can also use sickness leave management and time-tracking tools to keep track of the employee's workflow and productivity. You may wonder how digitizing contributes to company culture, but it does indirectly impact it. When you simplify tasks for your employees and embrace a remote mode of working, you are creating a futuristic culture.

Motivate people to create work of value

Not everyone wants to work only to earn and take home money. Many also want to resonate with their work where they feel like their work is valued. The end goal is to do work that helps the community at large. Being unable to create such work will lead to more people being dissatisfied with what they do. 

Managers and team leaders must chalk out work responsibilities that comply with the company culture and human expectations. In this manner, the work done will bring positive results for both the company and the employee. Cheer for those who are working on the sidelines and behind the scenes and stand with them when they do something that gives back to the community and the industry. 

Create opportunities for more relationships

The most successful companies have one thing in common: their employees feel less like employees and more like a family. Building meaningful relationships is what will bring success to your company. When you bring people from different departments together, their expertise and character must rub off on each other where the “WE” nature is seen.

You can create such opportunities in the following ways:

Promote workplace flexibility

In continuation with encouraging the usage of digital tools (point 7), hand over the baton to employees when it comes to balancing work-life. Doing so will lead to higher productivity, more job satisfaction, reduced stress, and more inclination to the company. Flexible timings and hybrid work models can increase your employees’ overall well-being. 

There is always a risk of delayed timelines, lesser accountability, disrupted communication, and much more. However, provide a pool of resources to employees where all of this can be taken care of. A corporate culture that emphasizes communication, collaboration, recognition, and accountability will thrive, no matter what. 

Company culture: a great desideratum for businesses

Undoubtedly, all businesses need to have a strong company culture so that their employees are willing to work more and continue with the company. It is no more a buzzword but a management tool that gives a company a sustainable competitive edge over others. At the end of the day, everyone must be proud of the culture they’ve built.