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Step-by-step guide to fostering company culture

A work team celebrates

There are more than a million organizations in the world.

Thousands of employees work in these companies, all with the aim of solving different problems.

When a lot of people work together, there are bound to be discussions, opinions, solutions as well as conflicts.

How an organization deals with such things, how employees feel working at a company, and how a company grows in unison, all depends on how the culture at the company is.

If the culture is good, everyone feels happy working together.

There is instant resolution of conflicts with no party involved feeling betrayed.

employer

There's timely pay, there's good pay, and most importantly, everything flows as smoothly as a flag on a windy day.

There is a catch, however.

Culture is not built so easily.

It takes years of effort for each and every employee to create a so-called corporate culture.

Even organizations are very serious about which employee to hire.

Almost every company conducts a culture fit round as one of the interview rounds to assess the candidates on whether they actually pass the company vibe or not, and whether their thought process resonates with what the company actually expects them to do.

Here are some steps to ensure and understand how to foster company culture.

Step 1: Building a strong foundation of values

Each and every company follows a certain set of guidelines, aligns to a vision, and has a set of values in place. Discipline is extremely important for carrying out daily workflows.

These values, in a way, act as the guiding light, similar to the moon acting as a source of guidance to sailors in the night time.

For starters, the company should identify the important ideas and mindset that follow along and align with the company's mission as well as the vision.

Steps must be taken to ensure that the company has a clear understanding of what exactly they prioritize - is it innovation, is it service, is it teamwork, or is it the satisfaction of the customer?

At this point in time, using internal communication tools can prove to be very beneficial because it can ensure that the values are being trickled down to every employee of the company.

Instant messaging using platforms like Slack, Discord or Teams, or even newsletters for that matter can play a very important role in keeping the employees informed as well as updated of what the company expects from them.

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Step 2: Strong leadership

A leader is someone who supports the team, one who motivates the team to bring out their utmost potential, applauds them in public, and one who corrects their mistakes in private.

A leader takes ownership of the team, represents them at several levels, and makes sure each and every one on his or her team is not facing any difficulties or conflicts with a person or a thing.

Apart from this, it is very important as well as very necessary for the leader themselves to be a staunch supporter of the values and culture laid by the company.

They are a source of inspiration for their team. When a leader or a manager manages to lead by example, the other employees follow them accordingly.

Step 3: Rewards, Awards, and Recognition

Everyone works hard in an organization.

However, some people work harder than others.

It hence becomes an important task to reward those hardworking exceptional employees.

It ascertains two things - one, the hardworking employee gets recognition for his/her work.

Recognizing their efforts is a good metric and a solid reflection of company culture.

Rewarding employees through gift cards, organization level emails, certificates, momentos, trophies, monetary compensation or even employee of the month awards are some of the ways in which rewards, awards and recognition can be achieved,

Step 4: Continuous Evaluation and Continuous Delivery and Continuous Development

It is important to note that company culture does not remain constant nor does it remain stagnant. It has to evolve over time.

Between a given time frame, a lot can change over time, hence it is extremely essential to adapt to the changes and modify the values and culture accordingly.

One of the ways to ensure that this is being happened is to take regular feedbacks from the team, constantly examining the efficacy of the internal communication tools at regular intervals, and make relevant changes as well as suitable adjustments as and when the leadership finds it necessary.

Step 5: Communication is key

It is surely a true saying that communication is key. One of the key flag bearers of a good corporate culture is how well communications are handled in an organization.

Employees should be free to speak their minds, within legal limits.

This setup can be brought into existence by ensuring that there is a safe and open space for people, where they feel they are free and comfortable enough to speak what is necessary.

With the help of internal communication tools, real time communication can be established.

Conclusion:

To foster a good company culture, is no doubt, a very important as well as a difficult task. It requires efforts at various levels to bring this to reality.

As mentioned in the steps above, building a strong foundation of values, establishing strong leadership, rewarding employees, having continuous evaluation and fostering open communication channels are some of the essential methods of fostering a strong company culture.

Not to forget the importance of internal communication tools that bring about a good company culture as well. One must also note that fostering a strong company culture is not just a task for the leadership, it is a team effort.

United we stand, divided we fall - the same is the concept for corporate culture. Having active participation of the employees in this process is necessary because they feel included, they feel the company is loyal to them, they feel their opinions are respected, and most importantly, they feel the company values them.

All in all, a good company culture ultimately boils down to whether employees are happy working or not.

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