Webinar Recap: Cultivating a Strong Company Culture

This article is based on the Blytheco Culture Transformation Panel held in August 2021. The full recording is available on demand here. Or watch our highlight reel here.

Corporate culture impacts every aspect of our professional lives. While a positive work environment helps build stronger teams, achieve better results, and increase employee happiness, toxic workplace cultures can be equally devastating. In this article, we’ll provide our take on culture transformation, the role of leadership, and how to shape a workplace that puts people and culture first.

The Three Stages of Culture Transformation

Building a culture-first company takes time. The goal is to ensure employee buy-in by taking perspectives into account, implement new practices, and allowing your culture to sustain itself into the future. Here, we have identified the three main stages of the culture transformation process.

Enlighten

Your transformation journey begins with the realization that you can shape and mold your organizational culture. Understanding that a positive work environment matters to your employees and benefits your customers, you may start to research and look for inspiration in other examples of company culture.

Cultivate

Knowing you can shape and transform your organizational culture with intention, you begin connecting with like-minded individuals. Now, you can have a lasting impact and engage employees by defining practices around the attributes, behaviors, and values that will bring your culture to life.

Sustain

A positive cultural transformation will permeate through all aspects of your business and take its place as part of your company’s value proposition. Leaders will need to look ahead to make sure that the new culture is sustainable, and that others will be able to carry it forward in the future.

Fostering a People-First Company Culture

Workplaces that put their people first provide growth opportunities, creating meaningful interaction, and prioritizing employee wellbeing. The culture that emerges will often result in a more innovative, resilient, and efficient organization. Below are the key steps to getting started with creating a people-first company culture.

Voluntary Participation

Coercing employees to participate in organizational culture is a recipe for disaster. Your team members will be more inclined to embrace and nurture your company culture if they decide to become a part of it for themselves.

During a cultural transformation, business leaders act as intermediaries between the company and individuals. This requires striking the right balance, as leaning too far in either direction puts the other at risk. Thus, leaders who lack soft skills and solely prioritize business goals may alienate their employees. On the other hand, it won’t be possible to accommodate every individual request without putting the organization at risk.

Employee Buy-In

Team members are more likely to support new ideas when they can help shape them. Securing buy-in means listening to different perspectives, experiences, and ideas. It is important to build a culture that reflects the diversity of your workplace and make your employees feel valued and included.

Blytheco is an organization built around serving professional end users on every level. Our employees are experts in their fields and come from many different backgrounds. Thus, it is important for us to shape a culture that would allow our teams to provide value to customers, collaborate, and strive for excellence.

High love, High Performance

The famous Simon Sinek quote, “Customers will never love a company until employees love it first”, remains as relevant as ever. At Blytheco, our team members often build deep relationships with clients and business partners. This is made possible by an organizational culture that values personal connections and genuine interest.

People who lead with love foster creativity and excitement. Yet, leaders also need to humanize themselves, embrace their limitations, and welcome personal growth. As a result, employees bring that human element into their own interactions. All of this helps stitch together a much tighter fabric which will resonate with your customers.

Embracing Growth

Growth is driven by teams of dedicated individuals who are constantly learning and developing their professional and personal skillsets. For many organizations, this means rethinking their “business as usual” and embracing new ideas. Every new hire presents an opportunity to gather new input on your processes and workplace culture, which could make all the difference.

Blytheco’s most important assets are our people and culture. Most people spend about a third of their lives at work. There’s no doubt that our work environment can impact our wellbeing. Embracing a corporate culture where employees take pride in their work can have a powerful impact on their lives. Having the right mentors, resources, and tools is a critical part of fostering this type of environment.

Understand Your Team’s Currency

Individuals have different understandings about what it means to be rewarded. While some value the financial aspect of their work, others may be more inclined to prioritize time with their family, security, or making an impact in their community. For instance, while some companies have performance-based incentive structures, others may host regular fundraising and charity events for good causes.

Rewarding and engaging your team means understanding what matters most to them and delivering on those terms. Listening and engaging with team members will go a long way in understanding their priorities. In addition, this can help leaders develop meaningful and sustainable relationships with their employees.

Business Transformation – It’s in Our Culture

Cultivating an epic company culture to attract and retain talent is more important than ever before. Transforming your organization into a thriving culture-first company requires implementing a shared set of values, attitudes, and behavior. Business leaders can help this process by listening to their people and developing genuine connections based on shared values.

If you would like to learn more about cultivating a strong company culture, check out the recorded webinar:

The full Blytheco Culture Transformation Panel recording is available on demand here. Or watch our highlight reel here.