46% of job seekers cite company culture as a crucial factor when deciding to apply for a job. And a shocking 15% turned down a lucrative job offer because they didn’t like the company culture.
These statistics paint a picture that’s hard to ignore. A significant percentage of employees place high importance on working in a company that has good company culture and knows how to nurture a great working environment.
What’s more, many of the people that actually care about the culture in a company are highly motivated and skilled. They excel in their jobs and want a challenging environment where they can continue growing.
These are the people that can lead the way in the company’s path forward, so attracting them should be a top priority. And that’s only possible if you take the time to develop an appealing company culture.
With that in mind, let’s look at five simple but powerful additions to your company culture that you should consider.
Implement Lunch and Learn Sessions
As a company, you want to create an environment where people are continually learning and improving. But sometimes, it can be hard to find the time to squeeze in a productive training session in the middle of a workday.
Because of that, lunch and learn programs can be a great way to combine lunch with learning a valuable skill or expanding the knowledge of your team. People don’t have to set aside time from their work and can enjoy their lunch while also participating in a creative and fun event that helps them become better at their job.
But what is a lunch and learn, anyway?
Well, in essence, it’s a short training-focused program that takes place over lunch break. People get together for around an hour and listen to someone talk about a topic while enjoying their lunch.
Some of the ways you could use lunch and learns are:
- Introducing a new product or feature to your team
- Helping them learn life or professional skills
- Using the time for a brainstorming session
- Cross-training sessions where someone from the group shares their expertise with others
There’s really no limit to the types of activities you can organize in the lunch and learn format. And since it’s such a laid-back way to learn and develop ideas, you will have fewer scheduling issues when putting it together.
In companies where teams are always busy, finding creative ways to squeeze in learning can be a great way to ensure your employees are progressing and developing closer relationships with one another.
Collect Feedback
As an employer, you want to stay in the loop about how your employees are feeling. Unfortunately, you can’t always expect people to come to you with problems, which can result in the issues growing unnoticed until they become part of a poor company culture that your employees experience on a daily basis.
To combat that, you need to be proactive in the way you keep your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the workplace. And that requires you to put processes in place that facilitate collecting feedback from team members on a regular basis.
For starters, make sure that you communicate that there’s a possibility to reach out and voice concerns or suggestions without judgment or repercussions. At the same time, you must make the process clear and accessible so that people don’t have to go out of their way to share their opinions.
You could also run regular surveys that collect feedback on various aspects of running your company. If you want more honest answers, make the surveys anonymous and look for common patterns that might point to more significant issues.
Finally, make it a habit to regularly sit down with different employees, asking them their opinions about various aspects of the company. You might be surprised that even if someone is happy, they still could have valuable insights that can help you improve company culture.
Celebrate Successes
Work can sometimes feel like an endless series of challenges. As soon as one project wraps up, the next one gets underway, which means more deadlines, quotas, and obstacles to overcome.
To prevent your employees from getting discouraged, savvy leaders make sure that they recognize achievements and take the time to celebrate successes. No matter the role of a team member, feeling like a part of a group achievement is a great feeling, which can increase motivation and make employees more eager to go the extra mile when tackling their tasks.
You can also set up rewards or individual recognitions for people who excel at what they do. When someone does a great job, don’t be afraid to show your appreciation, even if it’s just a simple compliment.
However, be careful about incentivizing performance before results are achieved. Some experts even argue that people’s intrinsic motivation when focused on a problem can actually decrease if monetary or other incentives are added to the equation.
Be Flexible
The COVID-19 pandemic has coerced businesses to reevaluate how they operate. But while that caused many inconveniences, it also made it clear that remote employees can function as a fully capable part of the team, which has made many people insist on doing at least part of their work remotely.
Now, companies that want to remain favorable in the eyes of their employees must be willing to adapt to the changing work dynamics. And that means embracing remote work or at least hybrid work as a viable alternative to in-office work.
Sure, developing effective methods for working with remote teams does take time and effort. But it also provides your employees with the flexibility they desire, which is essential for nurturing a positive company culture and keeping people happy.
A bonus of being flexible about where people work from is that you can greatly expand your reach in terms of the talent you pursue. You can avoid limiting yourself to your city and can consider people from all over the world, as long as they are a good fit and can fit around the work schedule of your company.
Final Words
Company culture is something that most employees consider important, but many businesses still aren’t sure how to nurture a better company culture that not just keeps current employees happy but helps attract top talent from the competition.
The good news is that making your company culture better doesn’t have to be complicated. The strategies listed above can make a big difference in how your employees work, learn, and cooperate, transforming the company culture for the better.
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