7 Ways To Maintain Culture In A Growing Company
Scaling your company is an exciting time. It’s an opportunity to expand your impact, reach new successes, and turn your vision into reality. But as you take on more employees, it’s important to maintain and evolve company culture as the needs of your employees change.
We’ve outlined the steps you can take to maintain company culture as you grow. If you want a more hands-on approach, The Woohoo Co. offers corporate workshops to assist you in strengthening your team and company values.
Overview
7 Ways To Maintain Culture In A Growing Company
Maintaining culture as your company grows is an important way to help improve employee retention, company profits, and a positive workplace environment. Let’s take a look at the 7 ways you can maintain culture as you scale.
1. Set Your Company Values
To maintain company culture, first, you must know what the values of your company are. Write down a clear list of values that can act as a strong foundation for a positive work culture. Company values can include company goals, teamwork structure, important policies and practices, behaviour, and communication.
Once this is clear, everyone at your company must be aligned on these company values. You should be able to effectively communicate these values to all of your employees, from higher-ups down to new-hires.
This will also help you when you conduct interviews and hiring. If you clearly understand what the company values are, you will know how to look for them in new employees.
2. Hire Employees Who Fit Company Values
As you scale and look for new hires, it is important to find candidates who will both fit the company culture and add to it. Rather than hiring just to scale a team, hire to add to the workplace culture. Ask candidates questions in interviews that align with your company values to see if they are a fit.
It’s also beneficial to look for candidates who will be able to stick with the company as it evolves. Will they be adaptable in a changing environment? Are they a team player who will support their team members? Think about the attributes that align with company values and support the future growth of your business.
3. Consistently Communicate Company Culture
Don’t keep the company values to yourself. It is important for team members throughout your entire company to understand what the organisational culture is in order for everyone to contribute to it.
Consider the four C’s of maintaining company culture when conducting daily operations: clarity, consistency, communication, and connection. Find opportunities in team meetings, written communications such as emails and instructions, and company training days as opportunities to communicate this message.
Once all of your employees are aligned on what the company culture is, they will more likely feel inspired to recognise it and contribute to it.
4. Use Leadership As An Example
Employees look to the leaders of the company they work for, from what they wear to how they speak and behave. Make sure to lead by example. If you state company values but don’t show them in your actions, employees will likely become disengaged and feel they don’t need to contribute either.
A worldwide study reported that a majority of workers are willing to earn less if they enjoy where they work. Negative manager behaviour can contribute to employee turnover if employees are treated poorly by their manager or supervisor, no matter their pay. If the leaders of your company are aligned and active in representing a positive company culture, that will trickle down to the rest of the employees.
5. Update Values As The Company Changes
As your company grows and changes, the needs of your employees will also change. Perhaps they will need more support from their leaders as their internal team grows, or new challenges arise as they take on a different workload. It is okay to evolve the company values if they are communicated clearly to employees and offer them support.
If you need help navigating people and culture within your growing company, the Woohoo Co. offers strategic HR and executive support to help implement effective HR strategies.
6. Have An Accountability System
Just as it is important to recognise employees who follow the company’s core values, it is important to hold leaders accountable to ensure they implement them.
Once you have a plan of action on how to implement the company values into organisational operations, make sure all company leaders are aligned. One way to ensure the culture is being carried out is to introduce accountability payoffs, such as annual bonuses and recognition programs. These can act as a measuring system to ensure your company culture is staying on track.
7. Listen To Employees
Encouraging employee engagement is vital in maintaining workplace culture. In order to know if your company values are making an impact or being maintained, it’s important to listen to employee feedback. Have an open-door policy to encourage employees to share their successes and challenges.
Employee engagement surveys are an effective tool that allows employees to have the opportunity to share their thoughts anonymously. Once you understand how your employees are thinking and feeling, you can implement changes in culture as needed to avoid turnover and retention.
Why maintaining company culture is important
As your company scales, you will likely have new goals and milestones. Maintaining a positive company culture is at the heart of your organisation’s success in achieving these goals.
A 2022 study showed that toxic corporate culture resulted in a wave of resignations across various industries. High turnover of employees can cause a higher investment in time and money to train new-hires, a decrease in team morale, and lower productivity.
Strengthen Your Company Culture As You Grow With The Woohoo Co.
Maintaining company culture is a key factor in your employees’ job satisfaction and your organisation’s long-term success. The Woohoo Co. offers unique workshops to bring teams closer together, communicate clear values, and provide a safe space for all employees. If you’d like help in maintaining your company culture, reach out and contact our dedicated team today.
More on maintaining company culture
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There are a few ways to maintain culture in an organisation. Know what the company values are, look for new hires that align with company values, consistently communicate the company values to employees, and hold leaders accountable to execute the company culture.
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The five P’s of corporate culture are purpose, philosophy, priorities, practices and projections. These act as a framework to define the core culture of a company. When implementing these five aspects of corporate culture into daily operations, you are more likely to set your company up for success with employee retention and profits.
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To keep culture growing, it is important to continue to communicate company values, reward good work, model company culture consistently, and positively accept company feedback.
