Ten Ways to Create a Corporate Culture

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Ten Ways to Create a Corporate Culture that Attracts and Keeps Good Employees

Corporate Culture Affects All Employees – For Better or Worse

For years the subject of corporate culture was ignored, or at least downplayed, by management and experts alike. In recent years, however, most observers acknowledge that corporate culture (or organizational behavior) exists and, in some cases, plays an important role in the workplace.

Certainly there are still skeptics. Some experts still scale down the effect corporate culture plays in performance and goal achievement. It is probably true that it affects employees more or less in different corporate environments. The predominantly subjective nature of organizational behavior can cause an evaluation to be challenging.

However, once you accept that a corporate culture exists in all companies, often by chance, not design, it follows that management should try to use it to their advantage, not their detriment. Here are some suggestions to help you take control of this characteristic to use it to attract and keep good employees.

Ten Ways to Create a Positive Corporate Culture 

1. While it’s true that excellent benefits are expensive, just consider the true cost of consistent staff turnover. Constant employee turnover may be the most expensive operating cost of all. Sticky benefits will encourage all employees to give serious thought before leaving your company since these benefits will be hard to find in the marketplace.
   
   
2. Publicly focus on the people, not the technology.  As much as innovative technology can help employees excel, many remain wary. They often become uncomfortable or even fearful that state-of-the-art technology will make their jobs and themselves expendable. By focusing on your staff and their contributions, emphasizing that technology is simply a tool to help them, most employees feel a much stronger “connection” to the company.
   
   
3. Give employees the opportunity to influence company decisions.  While the perception of influence equals the reality, many companies have found that involving employees in operations and/or strategy decisions has generated some excellent suggestions. Occupying the operational front lines or implementing strategy, non-management employees often have a different and often effective outlook on company procedures.
   
   
4. Share financial results with employees.  Often called an “open-book” policy, many companies have generated newfound respect and loyalty from staff by keeping them up-to-date and on the same page with management.
   
   
5. Publicly recognize employee performance, milestones, birthdays, etc.  Don’t wait for major accomplishments to celebrate. Acknowledge all milestones, big and small. Your staff will not only appreciate these gestures personally, but they will tell their friends and potential future employees, too.
   
   
6. Take an obvious interest in your stars.  By making it clear that you’re interested in your best employees' thoughts, ideas, and commentary, you accomplish two motivational goals. First, you display that you appreciate and respect high performers, which typically creates more high-level results. Second, you tastefully indicate that other staff will receive the same personal interest from management if their performance reaches a high level.
   
   
7. Offer varied opportunities for staff to get education, skill development, and additional expertise.  Stress (or implement) liberal programs for continuing education, be it for formal degree programs, industry schools, seminars, or any other teaching/training experience. Make these opportunities very public and supportive.
   
   
8. Carefully strive for “meaningful depth” during candidate interviews.  Consider conducting real behavioral interviews versus classic “What did you do? Where did you do it? When did you do it?” interviews. Try hard to find employees who “fit” your corporate culture to generate strong (and happy) team players.
   
   
9. Install non-financial benefit items that improve corporate culture.  Personal days, caring for a sick family member days, employee-of-the-week (month, quarter, and year) awards, more prestigious workplace conditions, etc. prove to generate a positive effect on corporate culture and employee loyalty.
   
   
10. Always stay in “listening mode."  You may be pleasantly surprised at what your employees have to say if you convince them, through words and actions, that you will listen. Instead of having to repeatedly ask for feedback, your listening  posture  will elicit staff comments that you might find important and valuable.

Implementing these items (or combinations thereof) will create a positive corporate culture that should have lasting effects on your success in attracting AND keeping the employees you want. Creating an environment that fulfills the objective and  subjective needs of employees often creates (or changes) organizational behavior that leads to improved performance and a more loyal staff. These actions can often be far more effective than the easy (and costly) method of simply increasing compensation.