What do all the best places to work have in common? An extraordinary company culture created with transparency, collaboration, and integrity goes a long way.
As it gets harder to attract and retain top talent, it’s important to be known as an Employer of Choice. As a recipient of the Best Places to Work Award in the North Bay for the second consecutive year, I’m happy to share what has proven to be successful with high return on investment, and has overall enhanced our company culture and employer brand.
Here are 8 steps to improving your company culture and making you a “Best Places to Work” employer!
- Encourage employees to come to the table with ideas. At Star, we are open to hearing our employees’ feedback on how we can improve our company culture or make the processes we have in place more efficient. We ask for feedback in meetings and through our suggestion box.
- It’s important that your employees understand where the company is headed and feel they are part of the mission. Transparency in communication is key. At Star Staffing, we have a monthly newsletter to share highlights, WOW testimonials, and a note from myself. We have one-on-one meetings with management, and then management has one-on-one meetings with recruiters.
- Invite your employees to learn and grow. At Star, we a value everyone’s success, so we make learning and growth a priority. In fact, it’s one of our core values. We want everyone to succeed, have a work-life balance, and achieve everything they want.
- Appreciate and value each employee. A thank you goes a long way, so call out the good work when you see it, and see it often. No need to go on a gift-giving spree, but a company lunch or the occasional party can help each employee feel valued, too.
- Leadership should be available. Our leadership team is fully involved in the company and is able to provide mentorship. We’re also committed to hearing our employees if something isn’t working for them.
- We work hard to make sure our employees have lots of opportunities for self-improvement through learning and empowerment. We hold monthly in-person training as well utilizing webinars through outside services. Learning is a huge part of Star. In a world that is constantly changing, we need to stay in the know and be the go-to people.
- Be a company based on integrity. It shows in your work, and in your employees’ work, too. It’s really that simple.
- It’s important that you make it fun. Especially in our business, things can be challenging. We manage people, and people are unpredictable. At Star, we have quarterly contests, and we celebrate all successes and events such as baby showers, birthdays, anniversaries, and other milestones. We truly enjoy who we work with so when we have to come in on the weekend, it’s more enjoyable to spend it with quality people.
Your company culture is something that takes cultivation. With a little bit of planning and presence of mind, your hard work will show and make your company a great place to work.
