Cultivate A Great Office Culture

 
Today’s workers consider company culture as much as they contemplate salary and benefits. Office culture is going to develop within an organization no matter what. The question is, are you going to cultivate it, or is it going to drive itself?

Millennial workers (born between 1977-1997), the group that companies say they are struggling to attract and retain, tend to be the dissatisfied with their office culture. Millennials are also likely to say that they would take a pay cut, skip a promotion, or be willing to move in order to better manage work-life demands (Source: The Washington Post). Likewise, a 2012 survey by Net Impact found that 88 percent of workers considered “positive culture” important or essential to their dream job.

Leadership expert, John C. Maxwell, says “Your ability as a leader to find, develop and retain the best people is the single greatest factor in determining your success.” The secret to preserve top talent is to foster a company culture that is hard to leave. By leveraging the following principles, you can begin to build a successful office culture.

Work is not “just work”

The work employees perform should directly impact the fundamental goals and principals of the company.  By emphasizing the importance of every employee’s role, and its overall influence on the success of the company, workers will appreciate seeing concrete results and progress.

If employees don’t feel empowered to fulfill their roles to the best of their ability, your organization has engagement challenges to overcome. 78% of Millennials are strongly influenced by how innovative a company is when deciding if they want to work there (Source: Deloitte Millennial Survey). Providing employees with the ability to contribute offers room for personal development and fruitful original ideas.

Continued learning is key

The number one factor for Millennials leaving an organization is due to lack of career opportunities (Source: Forbes). When you provide employees with the right tools, resources and learning opportunities, employees can take ownership of their career growth and will garner new skills.

Mentor programs are a valuable way to engage with employees by providing the training and mentorship necessary to become a leader in the future. Other ideas include launching a “Lunch & Learn” program within your office. Topics can include skills training, professional development, product training, personal development, etc.

Employees that receive more training tend to be highly motivated to accomplish goals. Providing a path for growth internally can lead to greater job fulfillment, and employee motivation contributes significantly to employee productivity and leads to achievement. Managers should formulate and regularly update their motivational strategies, as employee motivation is an essential part of office culture.

Develop a culture committee

A positive office culture can be modeled by a group of individuals on a culture committee. Select a group of team members to be in charge of creating networking gatherings and social events geared towards the entire team.

Developing a culture group provides Millennials the chance to contribute and lead. Young professional groups are also great environments to practice pitching ideas where rising leaders can share their perspective and ideas with more seasoned employees. As a result of these three principles, employees feel valued and appreciated.

How does your company improve morale?

Author: Lili Foltz @lilifoltz