Regardless of your line of work, precise scope, and size of your business, building and maintaining amazing company culture is critical for your success. Although each firm has a different perspective and individual intentions, there are multiple simple tips to follow that work equally well for everyone. You need to explore and embrace them in order to have a prosperous workplace and happy employees.
Start by answering the key question – What does a successful company culture look like? Then, get ready to go long and traverse your own environment from various angles. Once you have a clear understanding and what’s good and what’s in need of a little brush-up, follow these elementary steps and create a business climate that will help your employees thrive.
What Is a Great Company Culture?
Each business is different. Companies have different goals to pursue, missions and visions, and core values. But, regardless of those variances and contrasts between organizations, there are always a few common denominators to keep in mind. Some indicators of amazing company culture can be found in multiple companies of different sizes, domains, and stages:
- Employee churn rate is low, and retention strategies are quite simple – and they work like a charm,
- Relationships inside the workplace are firm, and staff feel like they can trust each other and work toward the same aims,
- Every task, milestone, and approach is clearly defined, and employees are aligned with the company’s mission,
- The company is transparent and inclined toward sharing all valuable information with its people,
- Employees have various ways to get together and boost their knowledge and interpersonal skills – and relationships,
- Team leaders and managers are accessible and willing to share insights and help out everyone on the team,
- Every little victory is celebrated, and employees are rewarded for their good work,
- Negative feedback is given timely and depersonalized so that each employee is aware of the slip they have committed, but it doesn’t make them feel inadequate,
- The environment is diverse and free of all stereotypes, negativity, and any sort of discrimination.
In addition, great team culture is often about flexibility. Strict politics and regulations are things of the past. Nowadays, many companies strive to show trust and respect by advocating for freedom, tolerance, and adjustability. For instance, the chance to work from home (at least occasionally) can be considered as a leap of faith. The firm believes that its staff will finish each assignment on time and according to requirements.
By fostering a healthy and cooperative workplace, you will ensure to have excellent results and a satisfied, productive, and loyal team.
How Do You Create an Amazing Company Culture?
Now that we have covered what makes an amazing company culture let’s have a look at how to achieve these goals. Be sure to have these key elements on your checklist:
- Put your employees and their well-being first by helping them stay happy and healthy, both physically and emotionally,
- Give meaning to your work and make your staff feel like they are truly contributing to something fantastic,
- Have a clear set of core values,
- Encourage strong relationships and friendly get-togethers whenever possible,
- Lower the stress in the workplace by drawing the right moves and setting clear and realistic expectations, and following the timeframes you’ve established,
- Offer a comprehensive package of benefits to each employee according to your finances and long-term plans,
- Make professional growth your priority and organize training, send your team to conferences, courses, and meetups, and get them the right tools and literature,
- Onboard and welcome new hires adequately and with care,
- Provide rewards and bonuses to top performers, and offer public recognition for each effort,
- Teach your managers to listen carefully and learn what your crew is interested in,
- Use the right set of tools to improve communication and track your progress with ease.
Ultimately, you must think positively and act accordingly. Developing a great company culture means fostering constructiveness and good vibes. You should show appreciation daily, offer recognition, smile often, and stay assured throughout times of crisis. Even small things like a casual dress code create an enjoyable and fun setting. Start by providing these basic things and offering flexibility, and then expand your positive attitude toward other aspects.
Hire the Right Team to Get the Job Done and Promote Your Values
Regardless of whether you want to build an in-house team or find an outsourcing company and delegate parts of your work to them, hiring the right people is crucial. Learning how to create an amazing company culture starts with having the best crew by your side. How do you spot prospective hires or a reliable BPO? Here’s what you must know:
- Seek candidates who can understand and appreciate your business and its vision,
- Set up an efficient interview process and cover all aspects that are crucial to you,
- Look for the right attitude over specific skills and background.
Finally, don’t focus on hiring staff that thinks and acts precisely like the members you already have on board. A diverse and heterogeneous workforce is always the best choice.
Also, when looking for a trustworthy outsourcing company, it’s unavoidable to have a glance at its reviews. See what their previous clients said and ensure that you have met your match.
How Do You Improve Workplace Culture?
According to some surveys, almost 70% of Americans show more appreciation for amazing company culture than financial compensation. Improving this essential aspect should always be on your agenda. However, you won’t necessarily be starting from ground zero. Revisit your core values and postulates, and keep on building up new ways and approaches around them so that you can make them function perfectly.
Surely, it all starts with proper selection. But besides hiring processes or finding the best BPO company, you can enhance your organization and teams’ satisfaction by following these steps:
- Always have a clear reminder of what your company stands for and what your mutual goals are,
- Recognize and share success stories and put positive examples and efforts in the spotlight,
- Be open about potential struggles and challenges and encourage your staff to brainstorm and contribute,
- Ask your crew about what they’d like to do in order to bond and organize team buildings accordingly,
- Encourage face-to-face interactions and don’t look down on taking breaks,
- Inspire individualism and autonomy,
- Interview each employee regularly and find out how things are shaping up from their perspective,
- Conduct performance reviews and be careful when giving feedback.
Lastly, stay consistent and dedicated to continuously refreshing and strengthening your workplace culture and atmosphere. Take the necessary time and effort to reinforce your squads’ experience and engagement, and renew their motivation daily.
Take Good Care of Communication
The main premise of every successful and productive communication is honesty. Always make sure to give your employees and colleagues the most accurate information, and don’t withhold suggestions, notions, and feedback. Building trust from the start is crucial. Then, ensure to:
- Conduct regular 1:1 meetings; weekly or monthly talks usually do the trick, but choose the pace and slots that match your needs,
- Explain each given task; don’t focus solely on how, tell your crew why they are assigned with something, and go into specifics to keep everyone informed and motivated,
- Don’t be hasty and never jump to conclusions; ask, listen, and speak before drawing a decision,
- Be open to learn about everyones’ strengths and weaknesses; communicate to help people overcome obstacles and amplify their knowledge,
- Don’t forget about the non-verbal parts of communication; pay attention to body language.
Make Sure that Your Employees Are Always Engaged
Consistency is always essential. And when it comes to the employee experience and engagement, it’s inevitable to stay in tune with the teams’ aspirations and needs. First of all, let your squad members be heard. Stats suggest that those who feel like their voice matters perform way better. In fact, they are 4.6 times more likely to be empowered and deliver their best work. Other proven ways to boost employee engagement include:
- Getting to truly know them,
- Providing them the right tools, resources, equipment, and knowledge,
- Being there to provide new information and helping them understand the company from within,
- Supporting them and letting them be independent,
- Encouraging innovation, creativity, and thinking outside the box,
- Rewarding the hard work,
- Praising the whole team and setting mutual goals to inspire collaboration and team spirit.
Now, once you let your staff speak their minds and listen actively to their thoughts, ideas, pain points, and purposes – you will be on the right track. Mutual respect and understanding are the foundation of every employee engagement strategy and of every healthy and successful working environment.
How Does Outsourcing Affect Company Culture?
Outsourcing can work both ways. It can easily boost your teams’ productivity, enhance quality, and contribute to the sense of like-mindedness. On the other hand, some companies stray away from the harmony they have previously established. So, how do you avoid the negative effects of finding a BPO provider?
Firstly, you must prepare your in-house team for the change. Your staff could feel like they’re being left out or replaced. Help them understand that this new cooperation is nothing but beneficial for the entire business. Start by letting them know which tasks will be outsourced and why. Make sure not to leave any room for doubts. After all, keeping everyone in the loop is what a great culture is all about.
Ultimately, it’s a high priority that you ensure that there will be no disruptions in daily routines and scopes of work that are functioning excellently.
What Are the Positive and Negative Effects of Outsourcing?
Like any other business practice, this widespread phenomenon has several pros and cons. Before you choose to embrace (or diss) it, make sure to be entirely clear regarding your company’s needs, goals, and budget. So, let’s start by naming a few advantages of outsourcing:
- Saving a lot of time,
- Increasing productivity,
- Raising quality,
- Reducing hiring and operational costs,
- Increasing the revenue,
- Scaling growth more easily,
- Having quick access to particular sets of skills.
Although there are numerous benefits of outsourcing, there are still some risks and challenges to keep an eye on. You should be aware that a collaboration with an external team can come with a few drawbacks:
- The lack of continuous monitoring and quality control,
- Potential security risks,
- A difficulty synchronizing schedules due to time zones,
- Communicational shortfalls.
Before you choose to outsource software development or customer service for your business, it’s invaluable to consider all these factors and determine whether you’re up for this practice.
How Do You Maintain a Good Company Culture when Working with a BPO Company?
When collaborating with a third-party team, it can seem more tricky to align your values and take good care of the culture. However, preserving your ethics, principles, and good old ways is pretty straightforward. Stick to what makes a great company culture, and don’t forget to pay attention to:
- Clear, polite, consistent, and timely communication,
- Active listening and empathy,
- The usage of the right tools,
- Established workflow and well-built processes,
- Excellent organization management and transparency,
- Soft skills and the attitude shown by your new outsourcing partner,
- Trust and mutual respect.
Finally, it’s paramount to choose the best outsourcing company and ease the whole collaboration. That way, you will be unquestionably pleased with the results, and your external partner will match your habits and philosophy – while bringing a dash of freshness and enriching it in the most positive way.
Build and Maintain Amazing Company Culture With Ease by Following These Simple Tips
This important topic was covered by many. And it will remain relevant and revisited in the years to come. Forbes showed us that a great company culture leads to a significant increase in revenue growth. The gains can be boosted up to four times thanks to the healthy workplace and regard for the employees’ wellbeing. But that’s just a single benefit of enhancing your ways and keeping your staff happy. So, put these tips to use and look forward to the results.
If you need an ally that will blend with your team and suit your business requirements, make sure to select a leading BPO company and avoid all struggles.