Is Your Old-School Company Culture Turning Away Candidates?
Company culture has a significant impact on whether or not top talent joins – or stays with – your organization. It also drives your level of success in achieving desired business results. Especially as millennial candidates become the driving force in today’s job market, as noted by Forbes, you need to establish “the framework that builds the ideal corporate culture.”
The bottom line to updating your company culture is promoting empowerment and collaboration among team members – creating an environment where each person can bring their own ideas and creativity to the table.
Steps to Culture Change
If you’re wondering how to make this happen, keep these steps in mind:
- Understand your current company culture. Look hard and honestly at your employees and their interactions with each other. Watch for emotions, which are indicators of values. Conduct surveys, focus groups and interviews. The results of your research will help you set your direction for change.
- Decide where you want your organization to go. This is based on having a vision for the future, a mission that defines what you’re doing, and values that shape your actions.
- Instigate the behavior changes necessary to achieve your desired culture. Decide on the specific course of action needed to bring about culture change. Master change management – the process of helping individual employees and your organization transition from the current to the desired state.
It’s All About Results
Your company culture should be one in which employees feel as though they’re being judged on their results – not on how they achieve them.
- People don’t want to feel trapped or hemmed into repeating the same protocols as everyone else. Let them out of the box. If they can get the same outcomes in a more creative way, they’ll feel more fulfilled, satisfied and loyal. And your company will reap the rewards.
- As you update your company culture, start by showing every employee where you want your organization to be. Then, give them the freedom to work collaboratively and creatively toward common goals. Let go of any old-school, rigid approaches to business planning and processes.
- Empower people to put their personal stamp on your company. If they truly feel like it’s their company, too, then you’ve succeeded. Foster a culture where people naturally brainstorm, create, innovate and have fun. Allow – and trust – them to do their best and build pride in their work.
The Scrum Framework
International business consultant Maria Martelli uses the rugby term “scrum” when defining a business approach that enables people to do twice the work in half the time. Scrum describes times when players huddle around the ball after it’s been put back into play. It’s also an effective illustration of how to update your company culture.
- By engaging in self-organized teams, employees determine for themselves the best ways they should work to complete incremental tasks. This culminates in the achievement of larger goals.
- A successful company culture calls for transparent communication. Keep employees constantly updated and let them know what they’re doing is making an impact. Listen actively to their feedback, and implement as many of their suggestions as possible – or if not, provide an honest response, regardless.
Is it time for cultural change at your company?
It doesn’t happen overnight, but with the right strategy and planning, it can happen effectively and enable your top business goals to become reality. Looking for a staffing agency in Irving, TX? Contact us today to learn more. To find the branch closest to you, click here.
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Published on Apr 16, 2019