You can make a company as efficient and productive as you like, but you cannot forget about company culture. If your company has a bad culture in the workplace, it s like a poison that eats away at your employee s happiness and morale. After all, a happy employee is a productive employee. So, what s a manager to do? If you re trying to improve your company culture and make your workplace more vibrant and enjoyable to be in, then we may be able to help. Here we present 9 tips for improving company culture and boosting employee morale!
Why Does Good Company Culture Matter?
Happy employees make your workplace a lot easier to be around, keeping the atmosphere light and enjoyable throughout the workday while improving everyone s mood. Did you know that happy employees are 20% more productive on average? If we talk about salespeople, they can be up to 37% more productive when they re happy. The numbers speak for themselves. Improving workplace happiness starts with instilling a positive company culture. Your employees need to feel heard, respected, and valued in their workplace. The more you openly and transparently value the work of your employees, the happier and more productive they’ll be. You can start by following these five tips for creating the best employee handbook. We’ve all had jobs where we work our butts off but our boss never recognizes our hard work or thanks us. Sooner or later, we lose morale, stop caring, and stop working as hard to impress a boss who doesn’t care about us. A strong leader in the workplace wants to make everyone feel valued. One way to do this is by creating an employee handbook that employees will actually read, which includes 6 tips to improve company culture. You won t regret it! From providing feedback to offering flexibility, there are so many ways that good bosses and managers can improve the culture of their company, or even just their department of a company. If you want to see a happier office and productivity boosts of 20% or more, keep reading.
Understanding Your Company’s Current Culture
Before you go implementing a bunch of changes to improve company culture, you first need to understand the culture that your company already has. You might think you know this culture yourself, but if you’re in a managerial position, there will always be things that you don’t know about your lower-level employees. After all, you’re in charge, so they’re naturally more cautious around you. Understanding what an employee handbook says about a company can give insight into the culture and values of a company, and can help guide efforts to improve company culture. You can t blame them. The best way to understand your company s current culture is to ask your employees questions and get their opinions. You might do this 1-on-1 or as a group meeting depending on the dynamic you have with your team. Ask them whether they re happy, whether they feel valued, if there are things they d like to change, and what their personal goals are. Try to find out how your employees really feel about their workplace, even if it s hard to hear. You need to know before you can improve.
How to Improve the Corporate Culture at Your Organization
From employee handbooks to offering flexible hours, there are many ways to improve the culture at your organization. It might not happen overnight, but there are always actionable steps that you can take to set a positive workplace culture in motion. Ultimately, it all depends on the way your organization works, but here are 9 tips that can apply broadly to workplaces across multiple industries and spaces.
1. Create an Employee Handbook
It doesn t work for every organization, but a lot of companies find it useful to create an employee handbook for both new and existing employees. This handbook should contain information about company rules and policies regarding people s benefits, sick pay, vacation time, and many other aspects of their work lives. A standardized handbook is essential for building a strong company culture. It helps employees understand their rights and responsibilities so that they know exactly where they stand within the company. As highlighted in this article on the role of employee rights in building a strong company culture, a surprising number of employees are unaware of their entitlements simply because they aren’t informed or there are misunderstandings. With a handbook in place, everyone has a reference point to turn to. If you are not sure where to start, take a look at these cool employee handbook examples or you can just use AirMason employee handbook software to start creating your online employee handbooks.
2. Listen to Your Employees
58% of people say that they trust a stranger more than their own boss. That s quite a worrying statistic. Trust is not easy to gain, but it starts with listening to your employees and making them feel heard. This seems like such a simple tip, but so many managers assume that they know their employees problems instead of hearing them directly. The more your employees feel listened to and heard, the more trust and faith they will slowly have in you. Once you listen to their concerns, you may be able to make real changes that improve their efficiency or work/life balance, gaining their trust even more.
3. Establish Clear Goals
What is your company working toward? What are your employees working toward? People are naturally goal-oriented, so it s good to give people something to aim for. The better you can establish clear goals in your company ( increase sales 2% by the end of June etc.), the better people can conceptualize their work as part of a larger team effort. Having clear goals also just helps people to feel like their job is less of a grind and more of an effort toward something bigger. Clear goals can help to focus people s minds and feel less like they re just doing monotonous work that doesn t really matter.
4. Introduce Employee Recognition Program
79% of people quit their jobs citing lack of appreciation as their main reason for leaving. People like to feel as though their hard work and devotion are being valued, so you might want to consider starting an employee recognition program that regularly praises (and/or criticizes) your employees for their performances. There are many ways you can do this, whether it s employee of the month awards, incentives for those who perform well, or just regular 1-on-1 performance meetings where you talk to your employees about their strengths and weaknesses. Whether it s good or bad, show your team that you recognize their efforts and what they re doing for the company.
5. Offer Flexibility
It may be hard to believe, but your employees have whole personal lives outside work. Whether it s family, friends, hobbies, vacations, or social activities There is more to life than work. As such, you should consider offering flexible working hours or working days to your employees if it’s practical. Another way to improve company culture is to let your employees help shape your company culture handbook. This will give them a sense of ownership and investment in the company’s values and mission. After all, not everyone wants to work 9 to 5 maybe 8 to 4 or 10 to 6 would allow certain employees to pick their kids up from school or attend a night class they want to attend. Maybe some of your employees just work better later in the day because they re night-owl types. Also consider working-from-home options where possible.
6. Build Trust with Your Team
There are multiple ways to build trust with your team. From honest conversations to team-building workshops, building trust is one of the most essential components for a well-functioning team. 58% of people don t trust their boss, so statistically, more than half of your workforce doesn t trust you. Yikes. Trust is gained through actions, so consider listening to your team and actually implementing things that make a difference. Show that you re listening and trying to help. The more you can demonstrate that you re a force for positive change in the workplace, the more that people will begin to trust your authority and intentions.
7. Celebrate Team Wins
It s important to celebrate and champion your team when they achieve a goal or surpass their expectations. Celebrating your team s wins shows that you appreciate all of their hard work and want to reward them accordingly. From small rewards like buying Pizza for the office to large rewards like bonuses for key players, celebrating positivity does wonders for morale. 53% of Americans are unhappy in the workplace, but celebrating team wins could help to significantly reduce that number. You d be surprised how something as simple as a compliment or a small gift can encourage people to keep working hard for you.
8. Increase Transparency Across the Company
Transparency is key when it comes to a successful business. Long gone are the days of CEOs and bosses hiding away on the top floor the unseen authority figure who strikes fear into employees hearts. The best managers and CEOs of today are those who demonstrate transparency. From see-through glass offices to honest conversations about their intentions and ideas for the company, transparency is an amazing way to increase trust, build relationships, and listen for feedback. 85% of Americans say that a history of transparency makes them trust a company more, whether they re a customer or an employee.
9. Provide Regular Feedback
Feedback is crucial. Crucial! Even if it s not all sunshine and rainbows, you need to find regular timeslots to talk with your employees about their performance. Discuss any positives and negatives in detail, suggesting ways that they can fix their problem areas while praising their good points. Some people aren t good at taking criticism, but most good employees will appreciate your advice and be happy to work on their weaknesses to get better at their jobs. At the end of the day, the better they are at their jobs, the more likely you are to promote them down the line. We hope you enjoyed these 9 tips for improving workplace culture in your organization!