As managers, one of the most important roles you play is providing a positive, productive and enjoyable working environment. With that in mind, you can find yourself surrounded by talented, motivated and happy team members that would go to the ends of the earth with you, or for you. In this day and age, with the variety of employee benefits and perks offered by companies, it is increasingly easy for employees to develop a “grass is greener” mentality, especially if their current company is lacking in their overall culture department.
As a business focused solely on hiring and retaining talent for our clients, TalentFund prides ourselves in an understanding of what makes people enjoy their job, want to stay where they are and want to continue to improve and grow. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of our top tips to implement within your team, to create the ever desirable, “I want to go to work” culture.
Develop & Communicate the “Why” - Create a simple, actionable goal that every employee can contribute to. Approach this from the perspective of each role or level on your team to outline how each employee can help with the bigger picture. Then, communicate that out. Give people milestones and boxes to check that will give a sense of pride, value and self worth towards a greater goal.
Positivity - “the tone from the top” or the “trickle down effect” is something that can be so simple to impact a large group of people. As a manager, it is your job to set the attitude for your team, a positive attitude will trickle down and spread positivity throughout each department or role. By setting the tone from the top, you can lead with a positive attitude, provide positive recognition and implement practices of joy rather than disdain, you can encourage happiness about the work, the team and the company.
Provide Opportunity + Growth - Just as important as developing the company’s “why”, develop the people’s “why” and “how”. Giving clear direction and growth opportunities is key to retaining employees and ensuring loyalty throughout your team. Don’t just develop the growth opportunities, share them. Have clear career and growth opportunities and communicate them often, employee reviews should not be the only time you allow people to learn and grow in their roles.
Culture - One of the simplest ways to create a positive culture, is to focus on the people you are expecting to uphold the positive culture. That starts with hiring the right people, not only for the role but also for the company. By identifying the values and vision of your company, you are able to actively seek out individuals who align with those values for themselves and their career.
Community - Remember that your employees are people first, with feelings, goals and experiences that you may never fully know outside of their career. Keeping this in mind, and supporting and uplifting your team as the people that they are, not the job they are doing, shows people that they are valued, respected and supported. When employees feel connected to their teammates, they will return the favor and thrive in their job.
As our working lives continue to evolve, swinging from remote or back in person, it is ever important that you understand what motivates employees, what drives their passion and willingness to work with you and for you so that you do not find yourself in a continual cycle of hiring and training new employees just hoping that some of them will stick. At the end of the day, when people love what they do and who they get to work beside, they will never feel like they are at work. That is the company culture that every business should strive for.