Key Elements of Successful Company Culture

Consider the company you’ve either loved or hated working at the most in your career. If you had to describe your experience there in one word, what would that word be? 

It’s likely that the first word that came to mind for you is related to the company’s culture. 

 Whether your word was something positive (like caring, fun, or challenging) or negative (like stressful, discouraging, or difficult), your one-word assessment is a direct reflection of how you experienced the company’s culture. 

Does this mean that your experience is the same as others who have worked for the organization? Not necessarily. While one person may find an environment that is fast-paced and high-demand to be energizing, another person who enjoys working in an environment that’s more laid-back and less structured may find that same environment to be extremely stressful.  

So, what is company culture? 

A company’s corporate culture is best defined and identified by both the values of the group, and the behaviors a company expects and exhibits day-to-day. This means your company’s culture is both what you establish in terms of values and what you allow to happen. 

With that in mind, what makes a company’s culture “successful?”

The Eight Elements of Great Company Culture

When examining what makes strong corporate culture, we can break it down into eight primary categories. 

• Continuous Learning and Skill Development: To keep employees fulfilled and engaged, it’s important to offer some kind of continuous learning or skill development options. This could be as simple as quarterly check-ins with a direct manager to gauge specific improvement goals or as extensive as discounts on pursuing higher education degrees or certifications. For example, Disney’s Aspire Program offers employees tuition assistance, educational options, career development, and more.1 

• Open Communication and Feedback: Regardless of the industry you work in, making sure employees know they have a voice and are being listened to is vital. It’s also important to accept feedback to improve processes and make the work environment as positive and productive as it can be. Some companies, like Netflix, help coach their employees on how to give productive feedback.2 When employees feel like they are part of the process, it boosts engagement and creates a more fulfilling workplace environment.  

• Innovation: You don’t have to be working in a capital C “Creative” industry to incorporate creativity into your job. Encouraging employees to think outside the box and come up with interesting solutions to complex workplace problems can be a game changer. Whatever the product is that you’re selling, there is always room for improvement, and sometimes the most creative ideas can be the most successful.  

• Effective Onboarding: You can hire the most talented professionals out there, but without effective onboarding, they won’t be able to operate to the best of their abilities. Introductions and training are key when it comes to making sure everyone is on the same page and work is getting done in a timely manner. For companies like HubSpot, this means assigning each new employee a work buddy who functions as a mentor for the first few weeks.3 With this strategy, new hires feel like they have a personalized support system to help them succeed.  

• Rewards and Recognition: When a team member shows their dedication through strong performance or a particularly impressive achievement, it’s important to recognize it. Rewards for work achievements could include time off, recognition through a company-wide e-mail, points toward gift cards, and more. These can be good reminders that hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. Some companies like to get creative with their reward programs. For example, the U.S. coffee chain Caribou Coffee rewards high-performing employees with customizable Chuck Taylor shoes.4 This popular workplace reward goes to show these programs don’t always have to be boilerplate.  

• Autonomy: In an environment full of professionals who take their jobs seriously, giving team members the autonomy they deserve helps demonstrate your respect for their expertise and your confidence in their ability to succeed. One job might not provide as much freedom as the next, but treating employees like the experts they are goes a long way in building trust and inspiring a strong work ethic. 

• Support: Just like managers and organizations expect employees to provide feedback on how operations could be conducted more efficiently, employees expect a level of support when they face workplace challenges. Being available for meetings and providing guidance when needed will not only help employees do their jobs better, but it will make them feel like you truly have their back and are invested in their success.  

• Work/Life Balance: In recent years, a lot more emphasis has been placed on the importance of work/life balance, especially with the rise of working from home. Employees who feel like they have sufficient time to spend with family, friends, and hobbies will greatly benefit their mental health. In this day and age, it’s easier than ever to feel like you have to always be available at work, so preventing burnout with sufficient PTO and flexible scheduling can help employees feel positive about their work environment. 

How to Build a Healthy Company Culture

Setting up a strong company culture at your organization isn’t an easy task. It’s not as simple as flipping a switch or putting any one practice into place. A healthy company culture touches all aspects of a work environment and is constantly evolving and shifting with new trends.  

Sometimes making these changes works best when an organization considers their positive culture a part of their identity. Warby Parker, a company that makes and sells prescription glasses, has built their reputation on positive work culture with a team specifically dedicated to creating fun lunches, events, and programs. Another company, Southwest Airlines, specifically empowers their employees to go above and beyond in ensuring customers are satisfied by giving them permission to be creative with their service.5 These are just two examples of how to create a successful company culture.

How to Improve Company Culture

Companies who struggle with performance often discover that a negative culture is at fault. When this happens, there are strategic ways to improve employee satisfaction from surveys and questionnaires to speaking with them directly about what they think could be improved.  

When Satya Nadella took over Microsoft in 2014, it was in rough shape. One of the first things he did was evaluate the culture, which turned out to be less than ideal. Managers were often critical of their employees for small mistakes and even ranked them from most efficient to least. Nadella shifted the company away from these practices to a model where they encouraged ideas and creativity. Unsurprisingly, this made a huge difference in company performance.6 

Pushing employees harder is not the answer for a failing company. It’s too easy for a workplace to become stagnant with negativity. Making sure teams are happy and fulfilled can be an effective way to boost company culture—the higher the morale, the higher the productivity.

How to Measure Company Culture

While it’s important for companies to have founding principles that establish and drive culture initially, the reality is that in a constantly changing world, company cultures must evolve and change as well. 

To measure culture, it’s important for a company to conduct a semi-annual review of employee satisfaction surveys as well as customer feedback. If feedback and results are positive, it may be that no changes are needed. But even when feedback is positive in regard to the current state, there could be challenges ahead within the industry or the environment (workforce trends, economic shifts, societal norms, etc.) that will require removing, changing, or adding new values to create and sustain an environment that supports the company’s goals and the wellbeing of its employees.

Take Your Next Steps

Given the importance of company culture for employee satisfaction and organizational performance, it’s vital to pay attention to the latest trends and explore ways we can improve our workplace environments. The fully online Master of Business Administration for Professionals (PMBA) program at King University is designed to give you the skills you need to enter managerial positions and start evaluating ways to improve culture. Find out more today and take the next step toward creating a healthier workplace.  

Sources 

1. Disney Connect. “What is the Disney Aspire Program?.” Retrieved October 22, 2924, from https://disneyconnect.com/dpep/disney-aspire/?CMP=ILC-DPFY24Q1wo1109230036A. 

1. Omni. “10 Companies That Have the Best Employee Onboarding Experience (and You Can Too).” Retrieved October 16, 2024, from https://omnihr.co/best-onboarding-experience/. 

1. Bravo!. “Here’s A List Of Top 5 Companies With Great Employee Rewards.” Retrieved October 16, 2024, from https://getbravo.io/top-5-companies-with-great-employee-rewards/. 

1. Workstars. “10 companies with employee feedback running through their culture.” Retrieved October 16, 2024, from https://www.workstars.com/recognition-and-engagement-blog/2023/12/21/10-companies-with-employee-feedback-running-through-their-culture/. 

1. Entrepreneur. “10 Excellent Company Culture Examples for Inspiration.” Retrieved October 3, 2024, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/10-examples-of-companies-with-fantastic-cultures/249174.  

1. Thrive Global. “3 Companies That Overhauled Their Culture.” Retrieved October 3, 2024, from https://community.thriveglobal.com/3-companies-that-overhauled-their-culture/.