10 Proven Methods For Creating A Cohesive Company Culture

Many of today's companies are laser-focused on their corporate culture. While it's great to talk about noble core values and world-class benefits, those elements don't do much good if your employees aren't all on the same page.

That's why it's critical to create a strong, cohesive company culture that everyone on your team understands and believes in -- and it starts at the top, with the company's leadership.

Whether you're looking to improve your existing company culture or create a new one from scratch, these stories and advice from Young Entrepreneur Council are sure to inspire you.

1. Hire For The Culture You Want To Create 

You should hire for culture and then find ways to get your team together for fun activities. You can’t hire someone who doesn’t fit your culture and then expect things to work long term. Hire people who already stand for what you believe in or who have similar values. Once you have them on board, find ways to motivate them and get them a mentor from your company. Also, implement a point system such as bonusly. Each employee gets a set number of points each month to bonus to coworkers for going above and beyond, or for anything you feel is appropriate. Give out points to people for doing various things that help the company, such as bringing in a new client, getting a testimonial, writing a blog, attending a training, helping with a big project, going above and beyond. - Jennifer Barnes, Pro Back Office, LLC

2. Let Your Employees Play An Active Role 

We are completely remote, which means we have to get creative when it comes to building culture. We have a culture committee that meets together a couple times a month. They brainstorm ideas and get feedback from the rest of the team to find out what would be most beneficial for our company. Once we have a better idea of what our team wants, our culture committee plans activities and events that will improve culture and bring our team together. Some examples of team events are our annual company retreat, Xbox nights and holiday gift exchanges. We've found that a positive culture creates personal investment within the company, loyal employees and a productive team. - Jared Brown, Hubstaff Talent

3. Measure It And Ask questions 

A manager, especially one with a high EQ (emotional intelligence), may be surprised when they realize that how they perceive the culture and morale of their team can be vastly different than how their subordinates do. As we started putting more intention around fostering a cohesive culture, one of our key early steps was to start measuring it – and doing so often. Gaining quantitative feedback by periodically asking anonymous questions ("How happy are you at work right now?" or "How would you rate your manager?") can help identify trends or opportunities for improvement. Qualitative questions ("If you were CEO today, what would you do differently?") can really dig deep and provide actionable feedback for a manager to act on. - Zvi Band, Contactually

4. Care For Your Community 

You need to be willing to back up your cultural commitments to your community, so choose them carefully. For a company to be a family, the company needs to care for employees like family members, whether that means figuring out who's watching the kids after school, making sure someone with the flu recovers before going back to work, or arranging dinner after a particularly bad day. I serve on a board for an organization with a cultural commitment to being people who you'd want to hang out with – but our board never hung out with each other outside of meetings. We set up a monthly dinner for board members with no agenda, so we could hang out. That small change made our team more cohesive almost overnight. - Thursday Bram, The Responsible Communication Style Guide

5. Minimize Management Hierarchies 

I believe companies fail or succeed as a team and they should strive to minimize hierarchy. Unnecessary management layers serve to diminish everyone’s connection to our team goal. Also, with minimal management layers, nearly all our employees' time and effort are spent actually contributing toward our goal. This edict allows us to achieve more without increased headcount. We do still have team leaders who have extra responsibilities, but any outsider observing our meetings and general work style would truly think we function as a team of equals. Every team member acts and feels like a critical contributor to our success -- because they are. Management should develop a strategic vision and hire the best people, then stay out of their way as they execute on that vision. - David Greenberg, Updater

6. Embody Corporate Values In Your Daily Life 

As a manager, it is crucial that you embody your company’s core values. Knowing what your organization’s mission is one thing, and implementing it in your day-to-day life is another. You cannot expect employees who work under to function as a cohesive unit if you don’t. As a manager, you also need to be completely transparent, because your employees won’t trust you otherwise. At our workplace, while we have created a vibrant and fun atmosphere, the top echelon displays great passion for work and holds ethics in high regards. Interaction between employees of different levels is ongoing, at work and through regularly held informal gatherings. The top level serves as inspiration, not just for existing employees, but also for those wanting to get onboard. - Derek Robinson, Top Notch Dezigns

7. Treat Your Employees Like Customers 

Long gone are the days of authoritative "suits" storming around the office demanding productivity. It's 2018, and the world has gone online. Your office space should cater to the style of your team. Give your employees what they want, the same way you do for your customers, and you'll get the most productivity out of them. At Sharebert, we have a strict work-from-wherever-you-want policy. We don't care about hours, we care about results. Everyone does their part, and when we have an in-person meeting, it's usually a fun event where everyone meets up and can socialize and express ideas in person. Not only does this cut down on costs tremendously, it makes our staff extremely happy, and rewards them directly for performance. - Ali Mahvan, Sharebert

8. Stand United With Your Team 

To manage a team cohesively, be hands-on and have an open door policy. You need to be approachable and help each person on your team to be as successful as possible. Have transparent goals outlined, so employees on your team know what is expected. When you hire good talent and trust the people you hire, they should be able to come to you before a problem arises. This will positively unite a manager with the employees. If a manager is open and transparent in the beginning and encourages employees to collaborate with them on things that they need assistance with versus being hands off and micromanaging when things are bad and it is too late in the game, a true cohesive relationship will develop that will lead to great success between a manager and their team. - Sarah Yeverovich, Empowered Staffing

9. Embrace Your Team's Diversity 

Be careful not to force an outlook for your team, and watch out for “groupthink.” It’s usually a sign that something’s off, and your business could be vulnerable to many existential risks. For Peerspace, creating a vibrant culture has meant embracing the diverse ideas and backgrounds of your employees. My advice is to let it develop naturally and recognize the core operating principles that your team identifies within their evolution. That’s the culture you need to foster and the what managers should reinforce within their teams. - Matt Bendett, Peerspace

10. Encourage Healthy, Positive Competition 

Humans have a natural inclination towards tribal behavior. To build a strong company culture, it's a good idea to tap into that tribal instinct. With companies I've worked for in the past, the ones that were the most fun to work at were those that organized competitive team-based events. One example was a company-wide fantasy football league, where different departments were divided into divisions who would compete for a prize. Another company was focused around health and fitness, so we organized a company-wide weight loss competition. If you work with a lot of gamers, organize a company LAN party. Find something team-based and competitive without taking it too seriously, and you may find your team members looking forward to coming in to work each day. - Bryce Welker, CPA Exam Guy 

Source : forbes.com

Collect by Minh Tiến – Sapuwa