5 Ways Creating a New Company Culture Improves Employees’ Performance and Morale
Everyone takes for granted that a business should have a positive company culture. Arguments such as, “Who needs that? We just need to sell stuff!” and “Of course it will be positive if I hire good people,” just bury the company culture until it’s blatantly ignored.
There are more pressing matters to worry about, right? How much product do we need to restock and how we can improve our marketing to get more online sales?
WRONG!
We’ll share our top 5 reasons why you NEED to groom your company culture specifically for your employees. If they are happy and excited to be there, then everything else will fall into place.
#1: The Mission Statement, and How Everyone Starts Their Day, is Clearly Stated
When creating our new company culture with a business coach, The Basketry team decided that our mission statement would be to “Treat every customer as if they are the only customer.” So no matter how much stock we have to get on shelves, how many baskets we need to make for a corporate client or how many people are standing in line at the register, each gift and customer should be cared for with our full attention. Every gift is equal, no matter the price!
Gifts are thoughtful and important to our clients, so they need to be just as important to us. Because each of our employees knows the value of each give, they are more aware of how much attention they need to give each customer and each gift. Before, it may have been a mad rush to finish wrapping a gift, but now they know to think about the person receiving this gift as well.
#2: Meeting Together Regularly as a Full Team is Encouraging and Builds Morale
If you aren’t familiar with our store, we have two big parts that make up The Basketry: our online production team and the retail store team (we call it the “Front” and the “Back”). We meet once a week on Tuesday mornings to discuss what we have going on that week in our departments and what our individual goals are, no matter if they are a part-time gift builder or a full-time manager.
Coming together, letting each other know our wins or how we could use their help brings us together. It shows that we really are part of one big wheel that keeps The Basketry going! Company culture is about supporting each other and keeping the business moving so that each and every one of us can succeed. It’s exciting to hear people bring up their wins and their goals so they can be congratulated or encouraged whenever needed. Nothing fills our tanks more than a “You’re killin’ it!” from our team members!
#3: Standard Operating Procedures Keep us on the Same Page
Having a set of guidelines for each position keeps new and old employees confident! They know when they are doing a great job, but also where to look if they have a question. These guidelines make training easy, as they serve as a resource for questions about what to do during any point of the day, or who to go to with their questions.
A company culture can only thrive with restrictions. Not everything is acceptable, especially when one employee thinks they need to take over someone else’s task, which results in frustration on both parts. A culture cannot be derived from people who are slacking off, are overworked or feel like they don’t know where they belong. With operating procedures for each position, it is clear where everyone needs to focus their efforts. The company runs much more efficiently as well!
#4: Cross-Training Other Parts of the Team Relieves Stressful Circumstances
Just because we have one job title doesn’t mean we stop learning! Once we master one task, we can learn another in case the other half of the team needs extra hands. Multi-faceted team members feel more useful, and it’s nice to change up the daily grind once in awhile (which both improve morale). Moreover, the short-handed part of the team can be carried without stress and panic--and no time wasted.
It’s important to make each team member feel valuable to sustain a positive and growing company culture. Meanwhile, it is also important to remind everyone to stay in their assigned role each day so everyone feels like they are trusted to complete their duties.
#5: Positive Words and Changing Our Outlook Keeps Employees and Boosts Morale
Showing employees positive outlooks in every situation ensures a company culture of security and confidence. Saying, “I know this is a lot of work, but when you finish, you’ll be the best shrink-wrapping wizards in all of history,” is much more encouraging than, “We need to get all of these gifts wrapped or our highest-paying client will never buy from us again.” There can still be pressure to get a task done, but the way we speak to people makes a huge difference in employees’ attitudes!
One way to keep people on task and productive, while also practicing positivity, is to provide incentives! Sometimes rewards for team members working on a crazy-busy day help with motivation. For example, if there is a 300-gift project we’re working on, we’ll challenge our gift-building experts to knock them all out within 3 hours and they’ll be rewarded with smoothies!
Wrap-Up
Making these intentional changes to our everyday processes has worked wonders for our team. It takes everyone’s participation and effort to make it really work and be “all in!”
What are some ways you would like to see your company culture grow and thrive?