Creating a Great Culture in Small Businesses
Gallup reported in its latest engagement survey that employees are feeling increasingly alienated from their employers. While large companies have been discussing the relationship between culture and performance for decades, small businesses often don't consider it as a driver. According to the SBA, small businesses account for nearly half of all private sector employees and represent the majority of all businesses, suggesting that most businesses in the United States have yet to embrace culture as a driving force. Masu.
If culture drives performance and employee engagement is an indicator of a successful culture, small businesses that fail to create a culture that fosters engagement may be leaving cash on the table. It will be expensive. However, building a strong, positive culture isn't as difficult or expensive as you might think. Seeing results for your employees and your bottom line requires intentionality, consistency, and patience.
Develop core values that tell your story
This is more than just words you can print out and hang on your office wall. Visual reminders are helpful, but memorable and meaningful core values start with stories. If you've never created core values for your business, try this exercise. Gather everyone and ask each person to share two of her stories. Your first story should be one where you get excited about something that happened and are really proud to work for the company. The second story should be one in which they were disappointed or even considered leaving the company because of what happened. Once everyone has shared their story and explained why it affected them, group the stories based on what they have in common. Ideally you want groups of 3-5. From there, ask the group to brainstorm memorable words and phrases that capture that value, and finally choose the most positive story from the group and use it to bring that word or phrase to life. .
Once you have the words and story, educate about them, emphasize their importance in key decisions, and develop opportunities for employees to recognize examples of bringing them to life. This is most valuable when the action reinforces the meaning behind the values and behavior in a timely manner, and is best done early and often.
Implement policies that align with your culture
Policy is where the rubber meets the road. If you define a code of conduct designed to support your culture but fail to codify sanctions and rewards, your values lose meaning and employee engagement suffers. As an example, this article from Justworks highlights several company policies that actively reinforce a family-friendly company culture. While some of these policies may be beyond the reach of small businesses, there are codes of conduct that say it's okay to talk about family issues, such as caring for an elderly parent or attending parent-teacher conferences. Creating a sense of security creates psychological safety and increases opportunities for connection at work. , there is no cost to implement. Similarly, flexible working policies are low-cost to implement and demonstrate action as well as action.
On the other hand, companies that talk about their values but fail to develop policies to support them are doomed to a future of high turnover, low performance, and increasingly toxic workplaces. . As an example again, talking about a culture of innovation, teamwork and collaboration, in 2017 he created a performance appraisal process that was run only once and was used as an opportunity for managers to enumerate everything that went wrong under it. Think about your company. Under the guise of honest feedback and growth opportunities. Such negative feedback and processes directly related to salary increases cause anxiety, especially among young professionals, and as a result, employees are more likely to look for a new job.
What can you do now if your resources are limited?
To be honest, it's easier than you think. Let's start with a conversation about values. In this article on culture in remote organizations, Caitlin Weiser offers suggestions that apply to any small business. Talk about what kind of company you want to be. Also, share in advance your current operational and financial limitations and your desire to enhance your policy and benefits structure as you grow. Conversation itself is valuable because it gives employees agency. It sets the tone and shows them they can turn to you if a problem arises. Depending on where your business is at the time, you may not be in a financial position to do something about it, but you may find that it's an issue to deal with later on and prioritize accordingly. You can attach it.
