Building and nurturing company culture is essential to the success of any business in any industry. But even though it may seem easy at first, there’s a lot of effort usually put into developing truly positive company culture.
Indeed, there are many things to consider during the process. Moreover, there are many mistakes you can make along the way. Hence, here’s everything that could go wrong (or that you could do wrong) and how to avoid getting yourself into complicated situations while building your company culture.
1.) No Planning
By far the biggest mistake you can make is having absolutely no planning when you start building your company culture. You can’t start implementing every idea you get, because it will lead to chaos. You need to have a solid strategic plan in place before you start growing your company culture in any capacity.
Think about every detail relevant to your case. From your industry at large to your current and potential stuff members. Nurturing a positive company culture is both about your own decisions and about the willingness of your team to build this culture with you. It’s also important to get advice from your team as you craft your plan.
2.) Poor Communication
Another major mistake you could make is having poor communication — or not having any communication at all. This isn’t just about the planning stage but also about the implementation of your plan. If you don’t communicate with your staff members while planning, the measures you want to implement might be met with backlash.
Likewise, when you do start implementing your plan in practice, you will need to ensure that everyone knows exactly what you are doing and why you are doing it. Moreover, your team members will need to understand their respective roles in the grand scheme of things. That’s the only way to develop a consistent company culture across all the departments of your business.
Choose which tools you will be using for communication. For example, a single email provider for everyone, an employee messaging platform and/or a video conference tool. It’s also a good idea to create a set of guidelines for communicating with these tools.
3.) Unclear or Absent Goals
Setting clear goals is also a fundamental aspect of the planning stage. When you have clear (and realistic) goals, you know where all of this is going. You will have a clear picture in your head of what your company culture should be like once your plan is completely implemented.
Oliver Kane, an expert from a writing services reviews website, explains, “Just like with anything else in your company, building your company culture requires you to set objectives. Try to measure them in some way and make sure that they are realistic and can be achieved. You can even measure how well these goals are achieved by using related indicators (e.g. team performance levels could show the level of collaboration in your team).”
4.) Undefined Company Values
At the same time, remember to also define your company values. In fact, you need to have these (along with your vision and mission) already defined. But if you don’t have them defined yet, this is the perfect time to work on them before it’s too late. Your company’s values, vision and mission can define the direction in which your company culture develops — which is precisely why they are so important.
Do you want to have a small team of employees who are very close to each other? Then you should cultivate this friendly and welcoming atmosphere through your company culture.
It’s also a good idea for your company to support a particular cause. For example, you could donate some of your profits to a charity organization or participate in non-profit/volunteer work or events. This involvement helps you promote your company’s values both internally and externally.
5.) Bad Hiring Decisions
Something that may harm your company culture at the implementation stage is bad hiring decisions. When you cultivate company culture, remember that this specific culture must resonate with your employees, both current and potential.
Every time you want to hire someone new, find out enough information about them to decide whether or not they will fit into your company. It’s not just their skills and experience that matter: It’s their values, their work ethic, their self-presentation and so many other factors.
6.) Getting Too Serious
When making any fundamental changes to your company, such as changing it culture, you need to treat everything seriously. And yet, there needs to be a degree of fun in everything you do. Maeve Hayes, an expert from a custom writing reviews website, puts it this way, “The thing about building company culture is that it often requires you to work with emotions, so you can’t be serious about every single thing you do. Moreover, you need to be open to experimentation. You need to be creative. That’s exactly what will make your plan to build company culture the best it can be.”
7.) Lack of Concern for Social Needs
Another mistake you can make is having no concern for the social needs of your employees. Good company culture is the one that promotes engagement, teamwork, collaboration — not just hard work and being your best self.
That’s exactly why you should encourage friendships in the workplace. When employees forger closer relationships, they can become more productive and grow your company culture from the inside out.
At the same time, you should keep in mind the personal lives of your employees. For instance, if you have a single mother working on your team, you might have to provide this employee with more days off when her child gets sick or needs extra attention.
8.) Focusing on the Negative
Because building company culture is so difficult, many human resources (HR) professionals and trainers start focusing on the negatives instead of the positives. But this is one of the biggest mistakes you can possibly make as you let yourself pay more attention to things that could go wrong.
Of course, it’s still necessary to be ready to potentially challenging situations. However, you should always maintain a positive outlook on your company culture growth. You want to make sure your team members are motivated and inspired — not anxious and stressed.
9.) Stopping Early
Last but not least, you should never stop early when it comes to building your company culture. Growing and developing your company culture is a continuous process, so you can’t just “be done with it as soon as possible.”
When you have come to the end of your plan, you should still stick to certain techniques you have been using. You should still promote certain values, and your vision and mission. You should still make good hiring decisions.
The Takeaway
Ultimately, how good your company culture is depends on many factors as well as the indicators you use to measure the quality of the said culture. Yet, you can still take certain steps to avoid making obvious mistakes when building your company culture. Use the tips from this article to help you grow and develop your own company culture one step at a time.
