5 Tips on Creating a Healthy Corporate Culture

Creating a healthy corporate culture is one of the most important roles for leaders.  Culture is the “invisible tapestry” that weaves people together and influences how people think, feel, and act.  In the absence of a strong and positive culture, people are not connected and the culture can become toxic.  Based on my experience and research, below are five tips on how to make this happen.

Based on my experience and research, below are five tips on how to create a place where people want to work.

1.  Set a positive tone at the top.  Whatever people witness being said and done will tend to trickle down as appropriate behavior.  Leaders are always being watched and observed.  It matters what is said and done at the top of the organization.
2. Hire the right people.  With each person hired, the culture is influenced either positively or negatively.  New tools exist to help match skills with positions.  Check out this article about Pymetrics and their algorithms to help companies hire the right people and make the process more objective by removing initial bias.  In some ways, it is similar to Match.com for employers.
3. Reward and recognize desired behaviors.  People behave in ways that are rewarded.  I believe the reward system at Wells Fargo is to blame for their recent troubles. Too many reward systems are dysfunctional.  Identify the behaviors you want and then reward accordingly.
4. Communicate often and in different ways.  People receive information in different ways and repetition is the key to learning.  A college president told me once, “Flood the organization with information.  When you think you have said it enough, say it again in using a different method.  In the absence of information, people make it up!”
5. Cultivate trust.  People need to know one another to trust each other.  Be intentional about helping people know one another.  If the right people are hired, people will tend to trust each other once they know each other.  Relationships are not automatic, but worth the investment of time, energy, and resources in order to cultivate trust.

How are you doing on these five aspects?

What could you be doing better?

When will you take steps to improve on one or more of these areas?

NOTE:  The next podcast in my series Becoming a Sage will be released on Friday, July 14th.    Listen to my interview with Dori Mintzer, PhD.  Dori is a Retirement Coach and a Money and Relationship Coach.  There is much to learn from listening to Dori’s experience and wisdom in these areas.