The company culture is the soul of any organisation; it is what makes employees feel valued, motivated, and connected with the mission of the company. Regardless of whether the organisation is a small startup or a big corporation, developing a robust corporate culture might hold the key to unlocking higher levels of employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention.
If you have been feeling like there must be a better way to improve the culture at your company, then this blog article is for you. In this post, we will walk through how to create a great environment within your organisation and show you how specially designed activities from Team Tactics can help you build such a culture where employees can thrive.
Table of Contents
What is Company Culture?
Company culture refers to the work environment or shared values, behaviours, and practices that make an organisation. It is essentially the personality of your organisation; the unspoken rules that will govern how the employees will interact with one another, go about their daily tasks, and feel towards the organisation.
A good corporate culture can be defined as that work environment where the employees feel empowered, supported, and motivated to give the best possible contribution.
Types of Company Culture
There are several kinds of company culture, and each may have its effect on how teams operate and the perception of the organisation internally and externally. Understand which one your company leans towards to help you tailor your strategies in improving or refining it. Here are some of the common types:
Clan Culture
This is normally found within organisations that pride themselves on collaboration, team effort, and a family-like atmosphere. Employees have very strong loyalty and a sense of belonging. Leaders in clan cultures operate much more as mentors than traditional managers, who encourage open communication and employee involvement.
Adhocracy Culture
Innovation and creativity drive in this culture. Companies with an adhocracy culture allow their employees to take risks, be imaginative, and quickly change with the changing demands in the market. These environments are generally fast-moving and dynamic, which foster new ideas along with entrepreneurial thinking.
Market Culture
The type of culture that revolves around results, competition, and achievements of goals as its focal point. The focus is on performance and outcome, and success is measured by market share, revenue, and profitability. Individuals working within market cultures become driven by targets and performance-related incentives.
Hierarchy Culture
The hierarchy cultures are highly structured and rely on established processes, clear decision-making procedures, and control. In this kind of culture, efficiency, consistency, and predictability are cherished. Organisations with a hierarchy culture often have defined roles and responsibilities; they operate on a strong chain of command.
Knowing your company’s existing culture will definitely give you a starting point to base your strategies to foster your company’s strengths or work on areas that need attention. Whether your strategy requires more innovation or closer bonds with the team, your baseline understanding acts as a key to meaningful change.
The Importance of Company Culture
A great culture is more than offering perks or holding social events; it is the heart of how your business operates and is perceived-inside and out-of its walls. Positive culture may affect everything from employee engagement to business outcomes. Here’s why company culture is important:
Attracts and Retains Talent
These days, candidates give a lot of importance to company culture in deciding where to work. A good workplace culture will attract the best talent, hence providing an easy way out to recruit skilled professionals. Further, employees are inclined to remain with a company which has working values similar to theirs and maintains a healthy working environment; this reduces turnover.
Boosts Employee Morale
A good company culture ensures that the work environment is one in which the employees are valued, respected, and form a community of something bigger. When workers feel attached to the mission of the company and their contributions are highly appreciated, it goes a long way in boosting morale and general job satisfaction.
Increased Productivity
Workers motivated and feeling indispensable to the organisation tend to give more than just the bare minimum. A strong culture gives direction to the employees; therefore, productivity increases on account of a high level of participation.
Strengthens teamwork
For the reason that communication and teamwork are the keys to any organisation’s success, and a good culture promotes both. Employees who can work in a positive culture are likely to collaborate, share their ideas openly, and work as a team for common goals; hence, better outcomes are achieved by the company as a whole.
It thus helps in nurturing a company culture that is positive and inclusive, thereby reaping many long-term benefits that range from increasing retention and productivity to promoting innovation and collaboration.
The Key Elements of a Positive Company Culture
Building great company culture is never an accident; it always requires conscious attention to a number of key elements that come together in creating a great workplace. Here’s what you should prioritise:
- Clear vision and values: Missions and values are the guiding principles of a company. It is only when people can relate to the vision of a company, knowing where they fit in the big scheme of things, that they can be loyal and motivated. Well-communicated values ensure they are all working for the same goals and maintaining the same standards.
- Open Communication: Transparency between the employees and the leadership builds trust. When people feel comfortable sharing their opinions, concerns, and ideas, it creates an open environment for feedback. Regular communication, whether through team meetings or one-on-one sessions, helps in bridging gaps and aligns everyone toward company goals.
- Employee Recognition: It is important to recognise employee contributions in a way that shows appreciation. Regular recognition through a reward system or through praise helps to ensure repetition of desired behaviour and creates a sense of appreciation. If workers see that hard work is appreciated, this increases morale and job satisfaction.
- Work-Life Balance: A good corporate culture allows balancing work with life. Flexibility, whether it is working from home, flex time, or mental health days, could lead to less burnout of employees and increased satisfaction. Employees will be more productive and less stressed when they believe they have a good balance in their lives between work and personal life and will, therefore, be more committed to the business.
With a focus on these elements, the company can create an enabling, engaging, and sustainable culture to attract the best talent and ensure success on a long-term basis.
How to Improve the Culture of an Organisation
Improvement of the company culture will always be ongoing, and this requires leadership commitment, employee involvement, and a focus on long-term strategy. Following are seven tangible ways to create a healthier and positive work environment, with statistics supporting each where possible:
1. Lead by Example
It is of great importance that leaders set examples for company culture. In most cases, employees follow the behaviours and attitudes modelled by the leadership within the organisation. Where leaders act with integrity repeatedly, they always communicate openly and show respect; they are setting an example for the rest of the team to follow.
According to Gallup, 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager. When leadership sets a positive tone, the rest of the team is likely to follow suit.
It is upon the leaders to regularly deliver the vision and values of the company. Leaders should lead with empathy and model the work ethic they’d want on their teams.
2. Encourage Collaboration
Silo breaking allows people across departments to interact and cross-collaborate, building relations and developing innovation. Working together on common goals creates a culture of teamwork and respect. Regular team building activities or collaborative workshops can be developed to support such an environment.
Companies that foster collaborative working are five times more likely to be high-performing. Forbes also reports that 88% of Millennials prefer a collaborative work-culture rather than a competitive one.
Encourage regular interdepartmental meetings and spend resources on different team building activities, including problem-solving challenges or escape rooms, to help build collaboration and knock down barriers.
Improve your company’s collaboration. Look at the 5 Tips For Creating A Collaborative Working Environment.
3. Support Professional Development
A commitment to learning and development opportunities shows your employees that you are invested in their futures, not just what they can do for you today. When employees believe career opportunities exist, they become more personally connected and committed with the organisation through increased productivity and performance.
According to ATD research, companies offering more extensive training programs realise a 218% higher income per employee and a 24% higher profit margin than companies who invest less in employee development.
Set up mentorship programs, access to online courses, and send them to some events in the industry or conferences. Support continuous learning for better retention and employee satisfaction.
4. Investing in Team Building Activities
Team building exercises are not solely for having a good time, but also crucial in bonding employees together and fostering better communication. Through trust developed during these events, employees learn about each other’s working style, which can definitely increase collaboration efforts and problem-solving.
Engaged employees, according to a study by Gallup, are 21% more productive and record 41% lower absenteeism.
Organise regular team building activities that best suit your group’s wishes, be it outdoor adventures, creativity workshops, or office-based challenges. At Team Tactics, you will find tailor-made team building packages for developing relationships and cohesion between team members.
5. Recognise and Reward Achievements
Recognition culture is paramount and paves the way in ensuring morale and motivation remain high. Employees who feel valued have a tendency to stay longer with a company and keep performing at a high level. Public recognition and tangible rewards go a long way in ensuring employees feel valued.
A survey by Achievers says 69% of employees would work harder if their efforts were better recognised.
Formal recognition with programs like employee-of-the-month awards, but also taking time for informal recognition, such as shout-outs at team meetings or handwritten thank-you notes.
6. Promote Diversity and Inclusion
Innovation, creativity, and empathy are all fostered in a diverse and inclusive workplace. Employees from diverse backgrounds bring different ideas and insights that can lead to better problem-solving and decision-making. Being inclusive means that every employee will feel valued and respected, regardless of their background.
Companies with above-average diversity scores generate 19% more revenues from innovation, according to the Boston Consulting Group.
Practice inclusion via diversity training, by ensuring that all voices are heard during meetings, and by reviewing your hiring practices from time to time to include more diverse perspectives at every level.
7. Give Feedback Routinely
More frequent and constructive feedback helps employees to improve, to do better, and to stay in tune with the goals of the company. Continuous feedback directs employees towards a given sense and may give room for discussions in case of problems or issues well in advance.
Employees who receive daily feedback are three times more engaged than those who receive feedback once a year.
Weave feedback into the fabric of your work environment. One-on-one meetings, performance reviews, even informal check-ins all provide opportunities to reinforce positive work and suggest areas for improvement.
How to Assess your Organisation’s Culture
Prior to making meaningful enhancements, it’s crucial that you understand where your organisation stands today. Here are some effective ways to assess the culture of your company:
- Employee Surveys: These are the best ways to understand employee satisfaction, pain points, and perceptions of what is working. Measure employee morale, engagement, and alignment with key company values through targeted questions. If conducted on a regular basis, these could let one understand what the culture of the present moment is and what needs further work.
- Exit Interviews: Indeed, exit interviews provide quite an insight into why they decided to leave. This could give you a better clue whether it is the management issue, growth opportunities, or work environment that have made them quit. It would help in finding out any patterns emerging, hence requiring adjustments in retaining workforce talents and workplace satisfaction.
- Culture Audits: A formal culture audit involves a review of your company’s processes, values, and employee behaviours with a view to their alignment with the goals of your organisation. This may be done in terms of interviews, focus groups, or observation of daily operations. Audits can show gaps between desired and actual company culture, thus helping shape a more intentional approach to cultural improvements.
Regularly surveying the culture of your company ensures that not only will you be informed about the strengths and weaknesses, but you will also be able to work actively at maintaining or improving it.
What does a Successful Company Culture Look Like?
A successful corporate culture is when the employees feel valued, engaged, and are aligned with the mission of the organisation. It nurtures an environment of respect; recognising consistently through effective communication provides them with the knowledge that each person’s work truly means something. When employees feel heard and supported, job satisfaction rises, loyalty rises, and retention increases while turnover decreases. This positive environment fosters engagement in that employees are motivated and feel connected to the larger objectives of the company, which offers productivity and success.
Good culture gives rise to collaboration and innovation. The teams will be working together, sharing ideas and helping each other to solve the problems. Employees are empowered to take risks and think innovatively, driving a more vibrant and innovative working environment. Where companies can grow personally and professionally, employees’ career paths are clearer and boost their motivation to stay in and be successful within the company.
It is a culture in which individuals can develop a high sense of belonging and congruence with the core values of the company. It is a notion built on a foundation of inclusivity, whereby every employee will feel part of this community. Employees would be better capable of understanding and relating to the company’s mission and values, therefore being able to engage in and care for the company’s success. Finally, the healthy culture sees work-life balance as very important and so takes the time necessary for flexibility and well-being, thus keeping employees happy, healthy, and productive.
How Team Tactics can Help in Improving your Company Culture
At Team Tactics, we believe that team building is a powerful tool for creating lasting cultural change within organisations. Our bespoke corporate events help to build and strengthen teams by developing tight bonding, allowing clear communication to take hold, and inspiring community among colleagues.
Whether you want to boost morale, show appreciation to your team, or enhance leadership skills, our portfolio of corporate away days and team building activities can be tailored to suit your needs.
Why not contact us today to see how we can best support you? We will be delighted to help you create a thriving and positive workplace culture!
View our selection of Team Building Events & Activities here.
FAQs
How do you rebuild a company culture?
Rebuilding corporate culture has to be done right from the management level by clearly articulating its vision to all ranks. Understand the existing culture through surveys or audits and identify areas for improvement. Then, define the objectives clearly and take the employees into confidence by building trust and seeking free feedback. Finally, bring in changes by promoting transparency, recognition, and teamwork among all.
How can organisational culture be improved?
Improvement in organisational culture should rest on the improvement of communication, support for professional growth, and enhancement of work-life balance. Recognise employees to keep them motivated, and arrange team building activities. The leadership too should act as an example. Only a culture of inclusiveness, collaboration, and continuous feedback will help make the culture positive and agile.
What creates a strong company culture?
A great company culture can only be built on values and a mission that are clear and can be defined and moved toward by the employees. It thrives when employees can feel valuable, supported, and connected to the aims of the company. Engagement is fostered in open communication, recognition of achievement, and commitment to professional growth. Diversity, inclusion, and balance in work and personal life add to a resilient positive culture.
How can improvements to organisational culture be supported?
It forms a basis for the improvement in culture because of leadership commitment, employee continuous feedback, and formal initiatives, such as training and team building programs. Resources for development should be provided; flexible options for working and recognition for employee efforts are needed. Monitoring of progress concerning the culture on a regular basis helps to ensure effective and long-term change.
