How to improve your corporate culture
Resolutions allow us an opportunity to reflect on the past and decide what and how we’ll do things in the future. Yours could be losing those stubborn last 10 pounds, eating well or spending more time with family and friends. Ultimately, our resolutions are about improving the quality of our lives.
Resolutions aren’t just for individuals though. Companies can (and should) look at the quality of life of the organization. By reflecting on the past year activities, we should ask, “How is our corporate culture doing?”
Why focus on corporate culture?
A positive corporate culture lends to a more productive and happy workforce, resulting in increased efficiency in the office. Why is this important? Because increase efficiency leads to increase productivity, which ultimately improves the bottom line. Have you ever seen an organization where the culture is negative and the company is doing really well? I haven’t either.
Negativity breeds inefficiency.
When corporate culture is ignored, like a dripping faucet, it may not seem like a big deal at the moment. As time goes by, the drip becomes more annoying, particularly late at night when the dripping sound amplifies and makes it hard for you to sleep. You’re tired and cranky the next day, making it hard to function. All this from a simple little drip of the faucet.
The same can be said for corporate culture. Over time, the little things become bigger and can create a negative environment, which hurts morale. If your employee’s morale isn’t positive, productivity and efficiency are likely also missing.
In order improve your corporate culture, you’ll need to examine it and put plans in place to allow it to grow. Positive corporate culture doesn’t happen by itself.
So how can you create a positive corporate culture?
Make it a habit to review your corporate culture yearly. Every year organizations hold strategy and planning sessions for their products. They put a lot of time and attention to ensuring they’re promoting their services or products according to their strategy. Why not include reviewing the corporate culture at this time too?
Make corporate culture improvement initiative a priority. Companies say they’re improving the culture but ideas and projects for culture improvement get lost in the shuffle of day to day business. Don’t let this happen to you. For tips and tricks, read my blog on how to prioritize.
Change your mind set from “nice to have” to “need to have” regarding corporate culture. This can be hard to do, especially if your organization hasn’t examined its culture before. But everything is possible when you realize the benefits of having a positive corporate culture.
Why not make a resolution to review and improve your corporate culture? The end result will be positive and a win-win for everyone. Feel free to leave a comment below or shout out to us on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, you could always write your own blog post on the subject and share it with us… We’d love to read it!
