When it comes to building a successful business that’s set up for long-term success, you have to look beyond products, sales, and marketing and consider the “engine” that keeps it all running. In other words, you have to focus on the people who make it happen.

What is Workplace Culture?

Workplace culture is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it mean? And why is it so important?

According to YourRec.com, “Culture is the character and personality of your organization. It’s what makes your business unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes.”

When you have a positive workplace culture, you’re able to attract talent, increase engagement, promote greater satisfaction, reduce burnout, lower turnover, improve creativity, and cultivate a healthy work environment where people feel loyal to the business.

Every company has a workplace culture (whether you proactively do anything to influence it or not). So you might as well take charge and intentionally shape your culture so that it allows you to reach your goals.

4 Tips for Creating a Better Workplace Culture

No two workplace cultures are the same. However, there’s something to be said for applying the following principles to improve your results.

1. Improve Engagement

According to a recent Gallup Poll, just one-third of American employees feel engaged at work. This is a striking statistic – especially when you consider that highly engaged employees are 17 percent more productive and have a 41 percent lower absenteeism rate.

If you want to create a culture that brings the best out of people, you must improve engagement. There are plenty of ways to do this, including:

• Hire the right people for the job. This means nabbing employees who actually believe in your mission and are passionate about helping your customers.

• Make sure people are in the right roles. When talent and interest coincide with job duties and responsibilities, engagement is going to be much higher.

• Give your team the proper training to help them understand precisely how to do their jobs. This removes so much of the uncertainty that can slip in and create issues.

• Let your employees spend time doing meaningful work that contributes to the company’s mission and purpose.

Engagement is the bare minimum. But you can’t create an amazing workplace culture without it. Make sure you prioritize this aspect of the equation before proceeding.

2. Gather Feedback

It’s easy to assume that you know what your employees want. However, you’re always going to have your own unique perspective. You’ll always be a little biased. So rather than foolishly assuming that you have all of the answers, make it a point to gather feedback directly from the source.

Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) surveys are an excellent tool for measuring how your employees feel about the company. There are plenty of tools out there that make it easy. For example, Delighted eNPS surveys allow you to customize surveys, push them out to employees, and receive real-time insights into how they’re doing.

3. Allow for Individuality

There’s something to be said for creating a uniform workplace culture. However, you shouldn’t force employees to fit into such a tight mold that they lose all personality and uniqueness.

Individuality is a good thing and should be cultivated. Give room for employees to express themselves through what they wear, how they decorate their workspaces, and even the projects they work on.

4. Offer Respect and Recognition

Offering competitive pay is certainly something that will attract employees to your business. However, money can only offer so much motivation. At the end of the day, a positive workplace culture is underscored by foundational pillars like respect and recognition.

Employees want to know that they’re appreciated. You can extend them this benefit by verbally affirming, offering public recognition, and using positive reinforcement. Because at the end of the day, it’s the employees who feel respected that will stick around.

Give Your Business an Advantage

In today’s business world, the right culture can actually set your organization apart and make it a more attractive landing spot for top talent.

Not only that, but once talented employees get a taste of your culture, they’ll want to stick around long-term. Make the investment today and you’ll reap the rewards tomorrow!