It’s challenging to build the company culture based on the vision of the leadership team or CEO. You are assuming that workers view and want to inhabit their office environment the same way as everyone else. They may have come from companies that have a dissimilar work setting with different management styles and values. But there are ways to bring people and teams together to slowly embrace the ideals of management and create a strong company culture.
Create a Culture Team
Start by creating a “culture team” with a handful of engaged employees that are selected from various departments and teams. It should include a mix of those individuals who are outgoing (sales) and workers who tend to be more introverted (engineers.)
Have them identify ways they would like to connect with their colleagues in a meaningful and engaging way. Some examples of building culture with teams can be happy hours, outings such as hikes and kayaking, wear your favorite counter-culture t-shirt day, internal employee spotlights, etc.
Let Employees Decide
Allow this handful of employees decide what would interest others in the company. You could have the best idea (picnic at the beach) but what workers may enjoy better is a paint-ball competition or a capture the flag game in an outdoor area, complete with obstacles, walls and water.
Another idea is to pair off workers so they can get to know another employee. They could build a Lego project together that would reflect an aspect of the company and prizes may be offered to best creation.
Mentoring
The best time that an employee can learn about the culture is when they start at the company. They can get a tour, talk to other workers and get an idea of how they can fit in.
A mentor could be assigned to the employee to help them get used to the company overall, handle challenges and brainstorm ideas that could help them get more involved.
In the first weeks, the mentor can have set check-in’s and as the worker gets used to the culture, arrange monthly meetings.
There are many more opportunities that small businesses can pursue to create a supportive and engaging workplace culture. It just takes creativity and a willingness to listen—and put into action the ideas of employees.
Other article suggestions: To make sure that your employees are getting their needs met while working off-site, read how to effectively manage teams working from home.
Also, read team collaboration benefits for the company.