It begins with leadership. Melding a team of motivated employees into a high performance group that delivers fantastic service and helps grow the company is the ultimate goal. This requires a leadership team that understands that dedicated, hard-working employees are key to a successful company. Here are five key tips that can help build a great culture.
1. Hire a great team
It is most important to seek out individuals who match your company's personality. Seek people who are high energy, creative thinkers who really want to make a difference in their position. Experience is important, but a positive attitude and an eagerness to learn can often overshadow pure experience alone.
2. Treat your staff with respect
Focus on empowering your staff by providing the tools, training and teamwork to be successful. The mission is to help each team member grow and take ownership of his or her job. Collaboration at all levels happens daily, regardless of job position.
3. Inspire your team with a vision
As a leader, one must rally the staff members around a core mission. Paint this vision by giving your company a core identity that is larger than any individual. It's a vision that everyone believes in and is committed to every day.
4. Reward your team
Recognizing and rewarding the achievements of your team is vital. Many companies skimp on salaries and bonuses to cut costs, but fail to realize that a happy and fairly compensated employee is vital. Leaders should take time to write handwritten thank you notes, provide flexible work schedules and aim to make the work environment a positive place to be. This will increase morale immensely and translate into a better work product and service to the clients as well.
5. Invest in your team
One of the essential components many companies fail to do is to invest in their staff. I believe that by increasing my team's job-related skills through additional training classes, school and job development, it enhances both our employees' skills and improve our team as a whole. Most employees want to grow their skills and careers, so when we invest in our staff, it helps them as individuals and our company in the long run.
As a leader, it is imperative to let each person know they are a valuable piece of the puzzle that creates an inspiring work environment. Investing the time in your staff must be more than just lip service but a way of assuring each employee they are an integral part of your company.