5 Ways to Boost Company Culture

In a strong, cohesive company culture, people share a common belief system and similar values. Culture influences every aspect of your company's work environment, mission statement, Core Values, leadership style, and workplace ethics. Now more than ever, companies understand that how they function internally profoundly impacts employee retention, brand reputation, productivity, efficiency, and organizational growth.

Are you a leader looking for ways to boost company culture and make it more meaningful for your teams, stakeholders, customers, and community? In this article, we're sharing five ways you can make an impact.

1. Amp up emphasis on your Core Values.

Most people want to support companies that share their values. In a post-COVID-19 economy, 90% of people believe companies must do everything they can to protect their employees' and suppliers' well-being and financial security, even if it means financial loss. Company culture and employee welfare are factors that 71% of consumers consider when determining whether to buy from one company over another.

Commonly shared Core Values are at the heart of positive company cultures. But if your leaders' actions don't mesh with those agreed-upon Core Values, no employee will put trust in your company culture. Everyone in your company — and especially your leaders — must consistently embody your Core Values. That's part of what makes them the Right Person in the Right Seat. 

Each organization has its own unique Core Values. Ensure your Core Values are well-defined, understood by all, and integrated across your organization. Additionally, consider fostering the following common values:

• Fairness, tolerance and respect for the individual.
• Paying attention to detail.
• Approaching challenges analytically.
• Providing stability and following a predictable course.
• Encouraging experimentation and risk-taking.
• Emphasizing and rewarding collaboration, achievements, and results.

2. Make culture a differentiator for your company.

During the pandemic, many leaders focused on developing what bestselling author Deepak Chopra describes as "the wisdom of uncertainty." 

"The wisdom of uncertainty lies in the recognition that the ego really can't know the future," he writes. "Furthermore, the compulsion to know what is going to happen based upon the past effectively limits your ability to create the most appropriate present out of the field of all possibilities."

Within the wisdom of uncertainty, a strong culture can help differentiate your company from the rest. Nobody can predict the future. Nurturing the sense of community and connectedness that your teams enjoy as a part of your company culture will not only inspire committed brand ambassadors but can attract top talent. In a recent Glassdoor study, more than 50% of respondents said that company culture is more important than salary when it comes to job satisfaction.

3. Keep your people front and center.

Companies with a strong culture that want to succeed in a remote working environment will continue to focus on their people's well-being. Leaders will ensure employees continue to feel valued, respected, connected, supported, and productive.

Identify the unique elements of your culture that will translate online and recreate them virtually. Take a refreshed view of your benefits, workplace safety, and internal communications practices to ensure they meet people's needs. 

Offer flexible scheduling to accommodate evolving circumstances. Show that you trust and believe in your people by demonstrating the importance of their involvement and giving them more responsibilities.

4. Develop a robust assessment system for measuring cultural success.

At first glance, assessing the health of your company culture may feel unusual, but it's an essential step in developing strategies that support your current goals and vision for the future. After all, the definition of culture includes the measure of collective human intellectual achievement.

Developing a cultural assessment tool lets team members rate the company on key aspects of culture at all levels. Periodic culture audits will not only evaluate if your efforts are working but may also help uncover cultural inconsistencies and weed out discrepancies between stated values and enacted values.

Once the assessment is complete, communicating the results to your team is critical for fruitful discussions about areas of agreement and disagreement within your culture. Those resulting diverse perspectives and collective team voices will hone and shape your culture moving forward. This conversation should continue until a consensus is established around what means the most to your culture.

5. Use software to integrate your values and culture into your team's priorities, roles, measurables, and goals.

Integrate Core Values — who you are, why you Work, and what you're great at doing — into the beliefs and actions of your teams with Ninety's Vision tool. This feature allows you to have a shared Vision of the future while keeping your company's Core Values in mind. From there, you'll know what needs to happen to move forward. 

With this tool, you can:

• Create a clear Vision for each team.
• Save past versions in the archive for future reference.
• Share your Vision with all teams — or keep it private.

Another tool that can help you integrate your culture in a remote workplace is Ninety's 1-on-1 feedback tool. You can:

• Conduct one-on-one quarterly and annual reviews with each of your team members.
• Instantly set up and review a direct report using connected priorities, your org chart, and vision trackers.

Sign up for a free trial to access all of Ninety's tools, features, and support. We guarantee that you'll love it.