Company culture is the personality of a company. It defines the environment in which employees work. Company culture includes a variety of elements, including work environment, company mission, value, ethics, expectations, and goals. Company culture is shaped by everyone in the company, has a life of its own, and can become the number one driving force for growth.

Why is culture important in any company?
Culture is critical in every step of a company’s life cycle. You might not feel that it can be the force that will stop you from growing in the beginning, since everything is simple, requires less red-tape and in general, there’s more motivation. But it’s the only time though in a company’s lifetime that, if done right, one can create the platform for easy growth, both for employees and the company itself.

If a company grows enough with the wrong mentality and attitude, then it’s harder to change these traits, due to resistance. People often tend to get used to negativity and inactivity and it’s easy for them to get trapped in this vicious cycle. The hard part is to break out of it.

Team members have to be owners of the process
It is important for employees to know how their company is doing and critical for you as an owner and a manager to make them understand the whole process and what else they could do to help.

Growth mindset
Knowing what the whole process is can help people create a growth mindset. Find new KPIs employees can create and measure themselves, challenge themselves to do more, to become better.

Evolve
Your employees’ goals change, they get married, have children, their priorities change. Learn what these are and stay up to date. See how you can help them achieve their goals in their business and personal life, and they’ll help you achieve yours. It’s as simple as that, a two-way process that always evolves.

Be transparent
The only way to avoid misunderstandings is to become transparent. When setting goals, though, try to be clear who will get what and why. Let them know what they did well, what you appreciated in their work and how they can help you move forward. Make them feel special. Rewarding performers is half the picture, giving under-performers the chance to shine, is the other half.

Stay focused
While it seems irrelevant and most companies and start-ups need to be agile in order to survive and thrive, focus is the name of the game when it comes to company culture. It’s one thing to set goals and responsibilities and another to change them week by week while trying to find the next opportunity that’ll make your company grow.

Celebrate small wins
Celebrate an increase in traffic, a great new client or an increase in conversions with all staff, make them understand that you’re in this together.

For further advice & support contact EAP Assist.