How do you create good company culture?

It's difficult to define culture. Culture is something that can not be seen, but it greatly affects us. We feel it through the physical exhibitions in the workplace.

Here are some elements to build a great company culture:

Hiring the right people

It has to be right starting from the beginning. Technical expertise can be trained. We prefer people who are able to easily adapt to the work culture. Therefore, hiring process becomes very important here. 

Strike a balance between formal and informal

In order to avoid people working like machines in the company, company culture does not always need to be formal, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The key is to strike the right balance between formal and informal activities.

Take small steps

People in general, are susceptible to changes, it's is critical to bring that change gradually when introducing a new culture, even switching to a new tool, moving slow is the key.

Monitor the change

What is their feedback? How the team is reacting to it? Monitoring helps to figure out whether we are on the right track. 

Create your own culture

Do not be a copycat! Every company is different, blindly following the footsteps of other companies is not going to be a good idea. Be smart enough to create our own company culture according to our team.

As an entrepreneur myself, I try my best to follow these steps to create a good startup company culture. Learned it somewhere, they did help in my business.

1. Get clear on your Purpose and values.
2. Encourage bottom-up feedback early on.
3. Set up processes and technologies that empower People.
4. Reward collaboration openly.
5. Have disagreements respectfully.

Hi Alex,

There are many things that can make a cool company culture but it predominantly depends on the company you envision. Things such as the age demographic of your employers and the industry you are in can affect what works for good company culture. For example, some industries and employees like multimedia, arts, tech etc. could enjoy remote work or flexible working hours but that wouldn't be so feasible for the finance industry. Different age demographics also have different expectations and appreciate different factors. For example, younger employees (Gen Z and millennials) enjoy a more casual work setting and amenities (complimentary food, beverages etc), however, older employees tend to be indifferent to this. Hopefully these factors can help you consider what to include in your company culture. Best of luck!