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You may well know and believe that company culture can have a strong impact on workers, including their satisfaction with the job, which can have a significant ripple effect (turnover, recommending the company to others, etc.). When you look at really successful companies such as Google and Zappos and their “unconventional” culture, you may feel tempted to recreate it — after all, it works so well for them, why not you? But you have to create your own; simply repeating what others have done without understanding the rationale behind it doesn’t usually work. So how do you utilize successful company culture ideas but still retain your company’s identity?

Stand by what you say you’ll do.

If you say you want an office culture with an open-door policy, you have to live up to that. You cannot create a positive company culture without integrity. Employees who consider their companies ethical and trustworthy always perform better. So if you fill a breakroom with foosball tables and comfortable chairs to imply a place of relaxation but never give employees a chance to use it, or make them feel they’d get in trouble if they did, you’re not creating a culture true to you. Figure out what you want as your company culture and take steps to make that actually happen.

Seek out opinions.

The employer who attempts to create a culture without getting input from his employees may find he’s done something that nobody wants. It’s like the relative who buys you the gift he thinks you want without asking you about your interests. Considering a Gallup poll discovered that 70 percent of employees feel disengaged at work, getting employee input on what they’d like to see as part of the company culture goes a long way toward getting them invested and connected to the company. And that helps create a successful culture.

The size of your company matters.

What works for building company culture in a small company may not work in a larger one, unless you consider scalability. All-staff meetings work well with a company of fifteen; in a larger company, this is where the managers come in: They can have small meetings with their team to discuss issues and ideas. Figure out your standards early and keep them consistent as new people come on board; as always, consistency is key to building culture and trust.

When figuring out your company culture, see what will work best for you. Avoid the gimmicks and stay true to your ideals. For help creating a strong culture, get help from PrideStaff.

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