6 Ideas for Improving Company Culture and Bettering Your Workplace

Your company culture says a lot about your small business. A good workplace culture can help you retain top talent and grow your business. But, poor company culture can leave you with high turnover rates and low employee morale.

So … where does your business stand on the company culture spectrum? If it needs a little lovin’, improving company culture is the way to go.

Improving company culture: 6 tips

Your employees are some of your business’s greatest assets. And when your employees feel more connected to your company, they are more likely to boost productivity levels and help your venture succeed. How do you keep employees connected, you ask? Cue company culture.

Company culture is oh-so important for a number of reasons. Employees not only want, but need, a thriving workplace culture. In fact, 47% of individuals search for a new job due to company culture.

In addition to helping retain employees, prioritizing your workplace culture can:

  • Add to your brand’s identity
  • Improve your employer brand
  • Help you recruit more top-notch employees
  • Lead to more productive employees
  • Improve your team’s collaboration

To reap the above benefits and bring your team closer together than ever, give these tried-and-true strategies to improve workplace culture a go.

ideas to improve company culture at your small business

1. Promote trust in the workplace

What’s the foundation of a strong company culture? If you guessed trust, then ding, ding, ding we have a winner!

Trust is not only necessary, but also essential in the workplace. Without trust, employees may struggle to come to you with questions or issues. Or, employees may not be able to depend on one another to get a project done.

To improve company culture, start by establishing trust. To build trust with your team, you can:

  • Support employees
  • Show that you’re dependable (e.g., get tasks done on time)
  • Be approachable
  • Avoid micromanaging (this one’s a big no-no)
  • Give praise where it’s due

2. Recognize achievements big and small

Employee recognition and appreciation is a must in the workplace, especially if you’re looking to enhance company culture. According to one source, 66% of workers are likely to leave their job if they feel underappreciated. So instead of letting employee achievements slip through the cracks, celebrate them!

When you celebrate employees’ achievements, don’t forget to recognize both big and small “wins.” A small win may include taking an online course to learn a new skill, while a big win may be something like making a huge sale to a new client.

You can congratulate employees on a job well done by giving them a company-wide shoutout (think employee recognition platforms). Or, you can treat your team to lunch or coffee.

Whatever route you decide to take, take the time to give employees well-deserved recognition for their hard work. It truly goes a long way.

3. Stay true to your company’s values

If you want to improve your company’s culture, stay true to your company’s values.

Your core values are so much more than a bullet-pointed list on your company’s about page. Core values are unique to your company and sum up your business’s beliefs, mission, and goals.

Instead of letting your company’s core values collect dust on a shelf, make them well known, and stay true to them each and every day. You can showcase your business’s core values in your workplace (e.g., bulletin board) and on your website. That way, your employees can see them as well as stay true to them.

4. Be transparent 100% of the time

Transparency is key when it comes to a solid company culture. Employees want employers they can trust. And if you want your employees to trust you, you have to be 100% transparent with them.

A transparent workplace can help you recruit and retain employees, build trust, increase employee commitment, and reduce turnover.

To work towards transparency, be willing to share both the good and bad information about your business to your employees. Keep your employees up-to-date about your business’s latest news. And do yourself a favor—don’t withhold any information (it will have its own way of getting out eventually).

You can encourage transparency by hosting regular meetings or sending out a monthly newsletter.

5. Utilize team-building activities

Team-building activities are a great way to increase employee engagement and improve company culture. They not only give your employees an opportunity to let loose, but can also bring your team closer together and build trust.

Some team-building tactics you can use to help build company culture include:

  • Potluck lunches
  • Lunch and learns
  • Trivia nights
  • Virtual coffee/tea breaks
  • Fitness challenges
  • Bring your pet to work day
  • Show and tell

Obviously, you may need to hold off on some of the above ideas until the coronavirus is gone for good (or at least do them virtually). But, you get the picture. The more fun you have with it, the better you can build up your business’s culture.

6. Listen to (and encourage) feedback

Approximately 75% of employees say they would stay longer at a company that listens to feedback and acts on it. Are you listening to what your employees have to say? If you want to improve your company culture, it’s time to listen up.

To build company culture, be open to receiving feedback. Consider having an open-door policy where employees can drop in if they have any suggestions. You can also ask employees for feedback during 1:1s, performance reviews, or meetings.

Get the latest small business news delivered straight to your inbox!

Most popular blog categories