Building A Great Company Culture Starts With You

Every organization has a culture and every successful company has one that runs deep into its foundation. A certain culture is particularly influenced by the organization’s founder and the employees because of their role in decision making.

So what really is a business culture? It is the pre-existing company’s genetic code that dictates how things are done in the company. It is a company’s culture that helps when it comes to hiring of new employees, how fast the new employees fit in and overall productivity of all team members. It is therefore critical to build a good business culture for your organization.

A good business culture is one that encompasses the following:

The vision and mission.
A great culture starts with a vision and a mission statement. A clear understanding of what the company’s envisions helps in orienting every decision employees make.

As entrepreneur, strive to make sure you’ve properly passed your vision to your team in a way that they can buy into it. They have to feel that what they do matters and that it has a measurable impact on the success of the business.

Your team should clearly see the goal and missions of their organization. Make it authentic and simple. One practical way of doing this is by putting visible signs on the walls of the firm’s facilities. Outline your missions, vision and objectives on frames; a constant reminder of what you stand for.

A good value system.
Besides others, trust as a company’s value is absolutely very essential. We all want to work in an environment where we can leave our items and still find them intact. Building an environment where everyone is their brother’s keeper is every founder’s responsibility.

Integrity is another key value that should be encompassed in every business. A company that is known for keeping its word is one that buys the trust of both its workers and clients. It’s an important value to build your foundation on from the very beginning. Integrity calls for authenticity. It is who you truly are as a company.

Where employees have a voice
As a founder, you’ve probably worked alone for some time and grown used to your own way of doing things. However as your company grows, you will start involving more people. At this point you must be open-minded to what they have to say. Just because it’s your business doesn’t mean their ideas are not important.

Create a forum for getting feedback from your team. This will make it regular, simple and easy. Decisions should not only follow the top-down mode. If the employees feel that their voice matters, it goes a long way in improving their productivity. This can be done either through feedback forms or meetings to discuss how things are. It can be done weekly, monthly or even quarterly, depending on which one works best for you. It however has to be regular.

Listening to your employees will help you know whether the company is heading in the right direction or not. It’s important to remember that good decisions can come from anywhere. Be a listener and don’t limit your employees’ freedom.

An appreciative culture.
Everyone likes to be appreciated. Even in a company setting, appreciating a worker or a team that has done so well creates a good environment. It motivates them to continually do well. They will feel good that their hard work was noticed and rewarded.

If it’s the sales team for example, buy them lunch, hold a party or create a heroes corner in your facility and have their names there. It gives them something to look forward to.

In any case, motivate your team. It will make them feel loved and appreciated.

It’s also important to note that as the founder of your company, the employees will mostly follow your example. You cannot constantly, for example, show up late at work and expect your team to show up early. If you desire to build a culture of trustworthiness then it has to start with you. That way it flows down easily.

Having a strong business culture in place will allow you to work well together and keep everyone on your team happy. However it’s good to know that any particular culture is not cast on stone. It can be revised if the current one doesn’t really work for your company.