Culture is a word that we are hearing more and more these days. It is spoken about in the boardrooms of multinational corporations, discussed in negotiation sessions between labor unions and employers, and preached from the pulpit by spiritual leaders. A company’s culture is its unique set of shared values, beliefs, and assumptions about what is important. It includes everything from its mission statement to the way managers speak to their workers to even the color of a company’s logo. In other words, the culture that a company creates is the total of all of these elements. This article will discuss how a company can maintain and manage its culture.
Start with the Top
It is said that people do what the boss does, not what the boss says. Therefore, one of the most effective ways to create and maintain a distinctive culture is to model the behaviors you want to be replicated throughout the organization. For example, if you want your workers to look at their customers as king and queen, then treat your customers with respect and appreciate their business.
Be Consistent
For an organization to have a successful culture, it is very important to have clear-cut guidelines and policies that your employees can refer to when faced with new situations. When you expect people in the organization to be creative and work independently, it is also important for them to know what the limits are and what they can get away with. Be sure to provide proper coursework and training for new employees to feel free to come up with their ideas.
Encourage Outside The Box Thinking
You will never have the chance to test all of your theories if you only allow people with the same mindset to work within your organization. Therefore, you must give people opportunities to express their opinions and learn from those different points of view. When you promote a culture that embraces diversity, it is easier for people to feel comfortable sharing their opinions and ideas. When they are forced to keep these opinions to themselves, they risk stifling creativity.
Accentuate The Positive
One of the most effective ways to create and sustain a positive culture is to praise people when they do something right and penalize them when they make a mistake. When you reward your employees with praise, they are more likely to take pride in their work and continue doing it correctly. However, this is the time to punish employees with negative feedback to learn from their mistakes and improve upon their next performance.
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Culture is something that a company can create and maintain with the help of its employees. If a company takes a proactive approach to creating and promoting its culture, then it will be able to sustain it for many generations to come.