How to Create and Maintain a Strong Office Culture

Culture… Not a Four-Letter Word

"Culture" is a buzz-word across all industries. The traditional, corporate office setting seems to be taking a back seat to settings more progressive and permissive. Different cultures are suitable for different businesses, and it's important to determine and establish a culture that is unique to your company. A strong office culture impacts an organization in many ways, including: hiring, employee retention, engagement, collaboration, and productivity just to name a few.

So how do you create and maintain a great office culture? I want to share 3 tips for doing so.

Establish core goals and values.

It is important to have your team rallied around company goals. Including your team members in the establishment of goals and values is an essential piece to getting them to buy in. If your employees aren't aware of or bought into what you’re trying to accomplish, not only will you not be successful, but it will be impossible to hold employees accountable. When everyone is on the same page, it creates an important cohesiveness. As things change within the company, you should reassess your goals and company values. You may have different milestones, company needs, and team personnel. Your goals and values should reflect that, as they are not set in stone.

Be engaged.

As a business owner, it is easy to get caught up in your own busy schedule. It isn’t hard for an employee to notice when their boss doesn't engage with them professionally or personally. You should take the time to get to know all of your employees on a deeper level. Ask for their feedback, provide professional development opportunities, ask how their family is doing, question their ambitions and challenge them. There are endless ways to engage with your employees and it makes a huge difference. An engaging and involved boss will inspire team members to be engaged with one another.

Being engaged also means giving employees opportunities to do things outside of the office. Plan team building exercises, fun events, trips, flexibility to work from home if possible.

Hire and fire with culture in mind.

When navigating through the hiring process, you should keep your culture, goals, and values in mind. Hiring people who will not only provide professional value but also advance the existing culture, will help maintain a positive work environment in the office. You should craft some interview questions that will help you gauge how a candidate will fit within your culture and how they might be able to advance it. On the other hand, you should always be keeping an eye out for negative influences within the company. Whether that be a senior manager or an intern, negative people can affect the whole company at any level.

Whether you’re establishing office culture for the first time or reevaluating your current situation, keeping these tips in mind will help lead to a positive culture moving forward. A strong culture will maintain happiness, employee retention and productivity, while attracting great candidates and inspiring new ideas from your team.

Conclusion

If Who Staffing can help you in any way with building a process that allows you to win the war on talent, please feel free to reach out to start a conversation or go here for more information about us.