We’ve all seen the statistics, company culture is a driving factor to more productive employees. While there are plenty of best practices that can impact employee engagement, sometimes a tactical effort that is easily executed is challenging to come up with.
Here are five ideas for you to easily implement over the next few weeks to improve your company culture and engage your team.
With the amount of time that employees spend at their computers, it is a shame that most companies don’t take advantage of branded background images. And if they do, it is usually a preset from the IT department. Creating a customized desktop background image that promotes your internal branding is a low-cost, high-impact way to get your messaging out there. Go the extra step and send out a new image every month, keep it fresh & exciting! Alternatively, create an internal contest for the ‘Background Image of the Month’ and get your team involved.
Does your office play music as a group? Or is everyone enjoying their tunes with headphones on? Either way, give your team a fun change of pace and setup a Spotify playlist that highlights music that ties back to your company culture. If you have a value system established, there are plenty of songs out there with lyrics to match your messaging. Pick songs that fit your culture, fun & upbeat if your company is known for your high-performance energy, calming & mellow if you are known for your diligent focus.
Many companies celebrate sales goals and customer retention numbers, but what do you do to recognize employees for their efforts to engage with and promote your culture? Giving awards for small wins can help to boost morale and show your team that you are paying attention, something as simple as ‘Most Likely to Give a High Five’ if your values revolve around creating an atmosphere of engagement. Awards can be given monthly or weekly in a staff wide meeting to show appreciation in front of the group.
There is no reason your team should have a case of the Mondays! Encourage their spirits by starting Motivational Mondays. Send out an email with weekly inspiration on Monday afternoon for people to read over their coffee break. This can take the form of an interesting article, new TED talk, or a digital photo album from the latest company outing.
Read a book together & hold a group book club discussion over lunch. This is a great way to introduce your team to new leadership skills or reinforce a culture of growth and learning. With the vast number of leadership, development, and business books out there, a shortage of topics won’t be an issue. If your team is pressed for time, start with an articles club where everyone shares and reads relevant articles on industry news or professional growth.
Your company culture needs to be nurtured to grow, any of these tactics will keep your team engaged and your culture top of mind. Most importantly, have fun with it!
– Kate Gardiner, Director of Operations