One study conducted by Columbia University shows that the likelihood of job turnover at an organization with a rich company culture is only 13.9%, whereas the probability of job turnover at an organization with low company culture is as high as 48.4%.
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Organizations with rich company cultures also tend to be highly competitive, innovative, and sought-after places to work. If you’re implementing a new company culture at your organization, here are five things you will not want to do.
1. Ignore Your Current Company Culture
There is already some sort of culture in place at your organization, even if it is a bad or toxic one. Before you move forward with fostering a new culture, take note of your current:
- Company values and mission and how they’re represented internally and externally;
- Methods and avenues of communication (or lack thereof);
- Traditions or celebrations employees participate in or want to participate in;
- How or if employees are involved in their local communities;
- Method of when and how employees participate in learning and training;
- Team dynamics or how employees work (or don’t work) together; and
- Work spaces and where people work and/or congregate for meetings, lunch, breaks, etc.
2. Exclude Necessary Teams and Groups
For your new company culture to succeed, it needs the support and insight from your organization’s:
- Leadership team
- Management
- Supporting teams
- Everyday champions and influencers
For more details on why these teams and groups are necessary to your organization’s new company culture, read “4 Groups That Are Critical to Your Company’s Culture.
3. Neglect Outsourcing Help
When implementing a new company culture, you should outsource help from the appropriate entities and seek guidance from professionals who are especially adept at implementing new company cultures and change management.
4. Forget to Offer Training and Support
If you want your organization to successfully implement a new company culture, give your employees and managers the training and support they need. For example, if you want your organization to have a more transparent company culture, you might want to offer better communications training programs and more programs that cover emotional intelligence skills.
5. Fail to Gain Buy-In
When implementing a new company culture, it is imperative that you gain buy-in from each of the necessary teams and groups mentioned above. And you should gain buy-in from organizational leaders, managers, and employees. Otherwise, your new company culture will not have the support it needs to be adopted and used across your entire organization.
For additional insight into what a successful company culture looks like, review “The Real Shapes and Sizes of ‘Company Culture.’