Culture is something companies brag about often, especially when using it as a lure to recruit new employees. Workplace culture is the personality and glue of an organization; it’s what makes a team unique and demonstrates company values, beliefs, traditions, interactions, behaviors and attitudes. It should be something a company is able to brag about. If you’re looking to build a solid team and retain your rock star employees, strong company culture is a necessity. Establishing a workplace culture should be considered a top priority because it can strengthen the goals your business looks to achieve, or weaken your business if you lack a culture that your team feels good about.
Good culture attracts talent, promotes happiness and satisfaction, and most importantly, positively affects performance. You’ll be hard-pressed to find an employee that prefers to work at a company where they have no fun and are constantly under pressure. People want to wake up each morning excited to go to work – that doesn’t mean there won’t be stressful situations, and work is still work, but a bit of balance goes a long way.
Here are some of the tactics companies are employing to establish a great work culture:
Keep it casual: Employees should demonstrate respect for the job by dressing professionally when the situation calls for it, but if you don’t have clients or customers frequently visiting your office, consider a more casual dress code, especially near the end of the week. More and more companies are dropping the suit and tie requirement and allowing their employees to wear jeans with polos or dress shirts. During summertime, some dress codes even allow shorts, of appropriate lengths and styles, of course! Trust me, your employees will appreciate the gesture!
Invest, invest, invest! No, I’m not talking about the stock market. Invest in your employees and you won’t regret it. Offering your employees professional development opportunities shows that you care about them and want to help them succeed with their career, which can contribute to employee retention, growth and advancement in the long run.
Teamwork makes the dream work: Encourage team-bonding activities when possible. Even eating lunch as a team can have a positive impact on office culture. Here at PC, most days you can find the majority of our team eating lunch together in the breakroom. It’s even becoming more common to find companies that dedicate a small portion of each week to activities centered around something even more social – such as happy hour. It’s a great way for the entire team to relax and even discuss current events and other non-work-related topics and learn a little bit about one another.
Company culture can be a power player in the success of a business. Employees want to work at a place where they know the smile they show up with will still be there at the end of the day, even if it was a stressful one. You spend an average of 40 hours a week with your colleagues, and those hours can fly by or creep at a snail’s pace depending on the vibe throughout the office. Do your business a favor and instill a culture that works hard, but also rewards hard work. You’ll be thrilled with the results!