How Company Culture Makes Or Breaks Your Startup

Irrespective of niche or size, every entrepreneur wants his company to grow and reach its zenith. However, it is simply not enough to invest, obtain financiers and loans and then aim for expansion. If you really want your company to survive the rat race and thrive, developing a positive company culture is a necessity. Without a positive and constructive work culture, a company’s productivity will decrease and its image will be tarnished.

Importance of developing a positive company culture

Regardless of whether your company sells insurance or manufactures smartphone accessories, it is absolutely necessary that a positive work culture permeates throughout every department. A positive work culture brings a number of benefits:

Business merger

It’s helpful during the time of expansion. When your company is considering a merger, there is always the possibility for and concern about a clash of two different cultures. With a positive work culture, however, the merger and assimilation of two separate entities will be issue-free and less dramatic.

Less interdepartmental conflict

The risks of interdepartmental friction and resultant hiccups are reduced when a company adheres to a positive work culture. The occasional difference of opinion is inevitable and takes place at every company. However, in companies with a healthy work culture, these differences are not disproportionately significant.

Improved employer-employee relations

Open and cordial relationship between employees and management results in fewer complications. Employees feel less hesitant to contact management directly when they experience grievances or issues. With clear and transparent company policies in effect, such issues are effectively addressed, thereby, eliminating the possibility of grudges and favouritism.

Enhanced productivity

When employees are more comfortable within their environment, it becomes easier to motivate them towards enhanced productivity. Friction is less likely and there is an increased awareness of management’s cooperative approach. As a result, employees are motivated and will voluntarily increase their output.

Negativity

In the absence of a positive company culture, employees find loopholes, which result in gossiping, wasting time and the eventual permeation of negative vibes throughout the organisation. In the long run, this can have an adverse impact on the growth and image of the company. When employees are not productive, they will take advantage of the lack of a company work culture, which will result in the spread of that mentality. In any company with a positive work culture, such employees are less likely to exist.

At Tagove, a healthy workplace culture is of the utmost importance. Focus is directed at ensuring employees have the opportunity to work in a motivated manner, clear of any obstacles. This culture has helped Tagove grow at a phenomenal rate, and with an employee satisfaction rate that is among the highest in the industry.

Ways to ensure your company has a positive work culture

A new culture cannot be developed overnight, but sincere efforts towards a movement in that direction will not be overlooked. To ensure the creation and stability of a positive work culture, the following steps should be taken:

Recruiting with care

Special importance should be given to recruitment. Apart from qualifications and experience, candidates should be analysed for their values. If necessary, a tweak to the screening process should be made. In short, before recruitment begins, the characteristics of an applicant should be thoroughly-analysed in order to understand his or her suitability for contributing to the culture of a company.

Policy clarification

Regardless of whether it is about performance reviews or leave policies, there must be clarity in the implementation of company policies if a healthy work culture is to be maintained. It is important to ensure that the policies referenced in corporate documents are actually deployed in reality, across various segments within the company. Without transparency in framing and deploying all company-related policies, the employees won’t be happy and  their productivity will decrease.

Maintain an open channel of interactions

A company’s management team should keep multiple channels of communication open for the employees. While formal email communication is available, you should still provide your employees with alternate methods for contacting you. Some companies offer anonymous feedback submission for employees. Apart from that, management should reach out to various employees periodically to ensure the communication channels remain open.

Collaborative approaches

Regardless of the company’s niche, it is important to ensure a collaborative method of doing things across various departments. This helps to improve communication between the departments and ensures a cooperative atmosphere, which is a prerequisite for developing a healthy culture in any company.

Grassroots training

To ensure every employee in the company connects with and adheres to the appropriate work culture, training should begin at the entry level. Upon completion of recruiting, the incumbents should be given adequate exposure to the values and culture nurtured and followed within the company. The human resource department should play a pivotal role in this integration. This ensures that those incoming employees can later impart the same values to any newcomers.

Employee-friendly policies

An increasing number of multinational corporations as well as other smaller companies are focusing on the implementation of various types of employee-friendly policies. This focus is definitely not without good reason! Employee-friendly policies make employees feel good and are proven to be as desirable and successful as pay increment or other incentives. Examples include the ability to occasionally work from home, paternity leave and high-quality meals at subsidized rates, among others. With the implementation of such policies, it becomes easier to instill a positive atmosphere and culture at the workplace. Employees are more motivated to work, which increases productivity and decreases attrition.

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