January marks a dramatic watershed moment as the nation breathes a sigh of relief with the passing election. The final determination of national leadership for four years is complete. Record stock market advances and increased consumer confidence predict 2025 to be a banner year for American businesses.
Are you wondering how you can increase your profits? The answer is a philosophy many successful corporations passionately embrace — create a caring culture. Brian Kristofek, president and CEO of Upshot wrote, “Being a great place to work is the difference between being a good company and a great company.”
In his book, Start with Why: How Great leaders Inspire Action, leadership expert Simon Sinek writes, “It is not products or services that bind a company together, it is the culture. The workplace culture is incredibly important in fostering a sense of unity, belonging, and purpose in what you do.” He also writes something quite compelling, “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.”
So, where do you begin to enhance your culture? Chances are that you already offer some of these initiatives, but here are seven steps to augment your corporate culture transformation:
Hire culture matches
Hiring employees who do not match your culture is like releasing a shark into a goldfish pond. Groupon’s Founder Andrew Mason says, “Hire great people and give them freedom to be awesome.”
Chad Carter, a human resources expert, writes in his upcoming book, The Predictive Hiring Model, “It is important not to hire someone just to fill a position but instead to make a great hire who will be a high-performing fit and perfectly align with the culture and corporate values.”
Keep an open door
Top leaders with an open-door policy allow employees to share ideas and concerns. One of my executive coaching clients shared with me, “Even when I am working at my desk, my door is open. If someone needs to speak with me, I turn aside from my work and give my undivided attention. This has paid great dividends in enhancing our culture.”
Hire corporate chaplains
To provide another important employee benefit, successful companies hire a chaplain or partner with chaplain organizations. Because personal issues affect work life, making a chaplain available to employees during work hours helps them process demanding situations and creates a tightly knit team who feel they are part of a family.
Assist financially struggling employees
Another unique employee benefit to implement is to assist employees with unexpected financial hardships by establishing a benevolence fund. Churches have long done this for members and innovative companies are following suit.
Institute profit sharing
A powerful incentive to pull together as a team is to establish a profit-sharing plan. When everyone knows bonuses depend upon great teamwork, excellence and innovation, watch your team pull together and profits soar!
Host family gatherings
Everyone you employ has a work family and their real family. Companies that host regular family events to connect the two families with fun, food, and fellowship see increased employee satisfaction, performance, and retention.
Get certified
One resource to explore that offers certification on becoming a super place to work is www.GreatPlacetoWork.com. According to their website, companies earning their certification enjoy higher stock performance, attract more job seekers and experience a higher retention rate.
The work that your company performs, the products you manufacture, and the services you provide all impact the community. Impact your community in another way as well by sharing with other business owners ideas to help them better their own work cultures.
Reen Waterman is a business coach, national speaker, writer and communications professional. Certified by the Charleston School of Protocol, he trains businesses and corporations in effective marketing and communications strategies. He can be found online here.