Company culture and workplace satisfaction are integral parts of any successful business. They act as the backbone of a company, impacting every aspect of a business from recruitment to employee retention to overall morale. It’s especially important in a new business to foster a positive and unique team culture. Doing so can help to set your company apart and give you a leg up on your competition.
According to research conducted by Deloitte
, 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe that a distinct workplace culture is important to the success of a business. Clearly, this isn’t something to overlook. Some entrepreneurs think that workplace culture is best left for large organizations. Although company culture can appear to be a sort of afterthought, or something that will occur naturally as things fall into place, this is not the case. A strong company culture must be intentional and consistent, and fostering a positive workplace environment from the very start will help to build the positive momentum that your business needs to thrive, no matter its size.
Why Is Workplace Culture Important?
As Forbes points out, it’s no coincidence that companies voted Best Place to Work are so successful. It’s because company culture has a vast reach, impacting every part of a business. In the recruitment phase, for example, a business with a positive team culture is able to attract more qualified candidates, giving that business a competitive edge. That culture helps to foster a sense of employee loyalty as well, allowing the business to retain top talent. A positive company culture translates directly into high employee satisfaction, too, resulting in
- Happier and more productive employees
- Reduced workplace stress
- Increased collaboration
- Improved workplace performance
- Stronger morale
- Better customer service.
How to Foster a Positive Team Culture
There are many ways to create and sustain a positive and productive culture in your new business that will engage and motivate your employees. A great place to start is with a focus on employee wellness – after all, employees need to be at their best in order to positively contribute to the company. Because employee wellness acts as a sort of foundation for a successful business, it’s crucial that company leaders provide their staff with the tools, resources, and time needed to take care of themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Something to consider, as well, is the direction that your company is headed, and the roles of your employees in getting there. The majority of employees crave a sense of meaning in their work, and when that’s lacking, job satisfaction takes a major hit. People want to feel the work they do has tangible results and setting out clear goals for your employees and the business as a whole is a great way to foster a sense of pride in your team.
Relationships require give and take, and that’s no different in the business world. It’s crucial that you listen to your employees. If something isn’t working, they’ll tell you – if you’ve succeeded in earning their
trust and have creative a safe space for them to provide honest feedback. Creating an environment in which your employees have a voice and feel heard greatly contributes to a sense of teamwork and comradery, propelling your workplace culture forward.
As a leader, it’s your responsibility to nurture not only employer-employee relationships, but also inter-employee relationships. Giving your employees the opportunity to interact on a social level outside of their professional relationships once again strengthens your company’s sense of togetherness and goes a long way toward improving job satisfaction. Your employees likely interact with one another more frequently than anybody else, so ensuring those relationships remain strong and positive is imperative to maintaining an effective workplace culture.
Win Together, Lose Together
At the end of the day, your goal is to make sure that all of the members of your company feel as though they’re on the same team. The New York Times encourages you to have a “shared scoreboard,” that is, shared goals across the company. A company is comprised of many moving parts and ensuring you set out clearly defined goals and count each win as a company-wide win helps to foster a sense of teamwork. It creates a stronger sense of “us” for the team as a whole, rather than the “us versus them” mentality that can sometimes infect a workplace and act to divide colleagues within a company.
A positive workplace culture brings countless advantages, with virtually no associated losses. Investing energy into building a sense of pride and teamwork within your new business will yield positivity across the board, improving both the experience of your employees as well as the performance of your business as a whole. Considering your company’s culture from its inception will work in your favour to establish a strong foundation for your business moving forward, upon which you can build towards bigger and better things!