September 02, 2021

Understanding Company Culture and How to Improve It

Sam Caucci

What is company culture and why is it so important to have a good one? You might hear the term frequently, but how can you effectively define the culture of your business and how do you measure it so you can improve it? We’ll explain what company culture is, and why it can help you gain an advantage over your competitors. 

What is company culture?

Company culture is all of the shared values, attributes and characteristics of each organization. No two organizations will have exactly the same workplace culture, because it is the individual attitudes of a company and their individual employees. It shows up in the way that people in the organization interact with one another, the values that they have and in their decision-making. 

Company culture is made up of a variety of different elements, which include the work environment, company vision, leadership style, values, ethics, employee expectations and overall goals. 

Why is it so important to have a good company culture?

Having a healthy company culture brings with it a myriad of benefits that can help you get an edge over your competitors and allows your organization to truly thrive. For example, this includes:

Having values and a clear identity helps you meet goals. 

Company culture contributes directly to the identity and values of your company. If you want your company to be dedicated to setting and meeting goals, then individual workers will act according to that expectation and likely set and meet goals of their own. This is a great way to maintain the direction of your employees without needing to resort to micromanaging them. Without it, it is difficult to keep your company’s values clear. 

Better retention and attraction of top talent. 

Companies with strong company culture are able to attract more top talent and retain their own talent compared to other organizations with weak or poor company culture. When people feel as if they really belong to an organization and can see themselves growing within that organization, it motivates them to stick around much longer than if the opposite were true. This means you can enjoy lower turnover rates, spend fewer resources on new hires, and build stronger relationships with your team. 

Adds to your brand image.

Corporate culture also helps you improve your brand identity. If you treat your employees well and have a laid-back, fun-loving environment, then your clients will see you as a fun and generous brand. Depending on who your target audience is, this could really help boost your sales and customer loyalty. 

These are three main tenets of brand culture that you are probably already familiar with, but as culture becomes more important they will all increase in line with its importance. 

How can you identify your own company’s culture?

In order to help you improve your company culture, you will need to identify what sets your company apart from others. You’ll need to know the ins and outs of your unique beliefs, behaviors and practices of your company.

The first step is to review your mission and vision statements, and marketing materials that communicate the company’s brand identity. This material usually conveys what the company is aspiring to be, but they might not reflect how the company’s work environment actually is. 

Another helpful way to understand your current company culture is to interview a variety of employees and leaders about their work environment. Ask them for short answers that can describe the company’s overall atmosphere, reasons why they like or dislike the company and other questions of that nature. 

Employees might be hesitant to speak about the things they do not like, so consider conducting an anonymous survey or get a third party involved that are experts in organizational culture. If done right, this culture audit should be able to give you a list of cultural attributes that can set you apart. 

These insights could give you the keys to improving your company culture. 

Consider reading more resources about company culture to better help your company. High Ten by Martin Rooney is an engaging and easy to read book that draws from Martin’s own experiences developing top-level teams around the world to help leaders of all kinds foster and sustain winning cultures. 

At 1Huddle, we offer cloud-based employee gamification software that can easily adapt to any employee training or gamification strategy you want to implement at your workplace. You can customize your content for a seamless experience and all of your employees will be able to access their training anywhere, anytime and at the push of a button. You can use our gamification platform to measure their performance and make key decisions on where you should take your gamification strategy next. 

Do you want to learn more about how 1Huddle can help you level up your own workforce? Request a demo today.

Sam Caucci, Founder & CEO at 1Huddle

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