Cultivating a happy and healthy work environment is vital to the success of any business – and even more important is developing a sense of community. Many companies are so busy perfecting their product or service, they don’t have much time to think about company culture.

Here are some things to bear in mind when developing and maintaining a positive culture.

• The leader’s role in growing culture
  Decisions are made based on one’s values but these ideals may not always be apparent.  Once you’ve established core values, you need to communicate what’s most important to you and keep everyone on the same page. Talk about the culture consistently so people know you are committed to living those ideas.  As your company grows, don’t make the mistake of assuming your culture will naturally spread with it. Eventually, your culture will need to shift from something you actively teach and enforce to something your whole team takes part in.
• Identify culture champions.
  These are team members who embody the company’s values and are enthusiastic about spreading your mission. Empower them to keep the culture alive from within your company.
• Institutionalise the culture.
  Put systems in place to make sure your culture is scalable and can grow with the employee count. In your hiring process, strive to give multiple people an opportunity to provide input on whether or not a candidate is the right fit.
• Keep traditions.
  Don’t take away things that matter most to employees, including rewards, professional development and quirky social events.

Of course, while trying to create a positive culture, things don’t always go as planned. Here are some red flags and what you can do to protect the culture.

• Someone who has negative influence.
  Communicate that the company won’t tolerate people who don’t support its values.
• Someone the company has outgrown.
  If you don’t have the tools to get them to the next level, decide that it’s time to move on.
• The bad manager.
  First, determine if poor management is the result of a lack of training or communication. If it’s not, trust your team enough to say goodbye to the problem person.
• The good producer with a terrible attitude.
  Contribution alone is a bad reason to keep someone on. There are people who can do the job and contribute to the culture.

While no one enjoys letting employees go, leaders must consider the health of their company above all else. As the business owner or leader of your company, it’s your job to communicate and live the company’s vision and ensure everyone is positively contributing to it. If you are committed to your company’s values, your team will be, too.

Hopefully that’s given you some food for thought.  However, feel free to contact me should you require any additional support in creating a more positive culture.

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