Seven Ideas for Creating a Innovative Culture
A great culture doesn’t just happen; it must be planned, taught, nurtured, and encouraged. Your culture is formed by how people work together, connect, interact, and socialize. You can unlock passion and potential when you enable real bonds among your team, and build a culture of positivity, trust, kindness, and respect. Here are seven ideas to help you establish and develop a great culture.
1. WRITE A NARRATIVE – Just like marketers create narratives to connect with consumers, a services firm can create a story to connect team members to their mission, vision, and values. This helps to establish clarity and defines the culture of the organization. A narrative can be used to help illustrate the connection between employees and clients. Personal investment and engagement make culture real and reinforce positive behaviors.
2. OPERATIONALIZE THE CULTURE – Creating a mission, vision, and values is similar to drafting a plan for a campaign. If the plan is not executed, then the benefits are not realized. Think about how you will operationalize your mission, vision, and values to create your culture and ultimately your brand. Language, interaction, appearance, tools, and support mechanisms will all work to reinforce the culture you desire.
3. CREATE A SENSE OF BELONGING – Although people have become used to working at home and communicating via Zoom, they still strive for human connection and belonging. Traditionally this could be achieved by developing collaborative office spaces, scheduling activities, and creating opportunities for interaction. Today’s new virtual environments require innovative ideas to encourage and establish connections among team members.
4. INTEGRATE INTO RECRUITING – Remember the importance of culture when recruiting and hiring new people. Look for character over skills (skills can be taught). Be sure to hire people that are a good fit for your culture, will work well with your existing team, and reflect your company’s values.
5. ONBOARD NEW TEAM MEMBERS – Studies have shown that the most important time for an employee is during their onboarding experience. First impressions can set expectations for years to come. If new members see demonstrations of your agency’s values in their initial interactions, they are more apt to follow them in the future. Be sure to define your onboarding experience and train new team members on your culture as well as their position.
6. MEASURE CULTURE & BRAND – Just as you would create a scorecard to measure operational success, you should also establish one that measures adherence to culture and brand. What are the leading indicators that show people are living the company culture? How do you recognize when someone is “on brand”? How do you celebrate a successful culture?
7. ENFORCE & REWARD – Quickly step up and take corrective action if any employee acts in a way that does not align with your culture or values. It’s equally important to reward employees that are making an extra effort to exemplify your brand. Rewards can range from simple appreciation and recognition to special perks, bonuses, or raises.
Contact the Stonehill team to learn more about how we can help create and implement an innovative culture within your company.