3 Important Tips for Improving Your Company Culture

Your new hires are hoping to work at a company with a strong culture. While every company's culture is different, there are a few steps you can take to ensure you're creating the right environment for both your new and seasoned employees.

1. Make it known.

If you want to make your company culture stronger, there's really no advantage to keeping it a secret. It's not admitting fault or weakness to strive for improvement, so you might as well set the intention and drive toward it, plain as day.

Let everyone, including your new hires, know that improving culture is a strategic priority for the year, so that the team understands their part in the broader effort. This awareness will not only help with buy-in, but will also empower your team to provide ideas and feedback, and to help others get on the bandwagon.

2. Listen hard.

You know what's important in making any company culture stronger? People feeling like others are listening to them!

Maybe you already know some of the things you want to improve at your company. But inevitably, other team members will have important ideas for what needs to change or how to change it. Pay special attention to the feedback from your new hires, as their outside experience can help inform what you should, or should not, do to change your culture.

Once your team knows that improving the culture is a priority, give them a means to provide ideas and feedback on the company's efforts and an avenue to assist with implementation. 

This has huge benefits: providing everyone with the same level of influence and ability to drive real results. And equally important? The pressure is not entirely on your team/leadership to identify opportunities for improvement or ideas on how to address them!

3. And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Here's a big, important tip. Company culture is not a one-time event. And it's not something you can/should occasionally revisit when you have the time. Caring for your company culture should be ingrained in your everyday work style, too!

So, make this initiative to improve company culture a part of your regular, everyday check-ins and conversation. When you meet with your team or managers, ask how things are going with the culture priority. Be especially prudent about checking in with your newest employees to ensure they feel empowered in their new role. Develop a consistent, regular feedback loop on culture so you know what's going on. That's truly the best way to make sure it never slips off your radar.

As you already know, building and maintaining a positive company culture is no small task. It takes time, commitment, and buy-in from top to bottom. But everybody benefits—employees, management, and even customers—from a company having a strong, positive culture. So, it's worth putting in time and effort to make gains and improve your team's culture. 

Looking for the right way to kick off your new and improved company culture? Schedule a night of 52 Connections, our most popular team connection event:

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