Originally published on activerain.com
Company culture can be defined in several ways. It can refer to a workplace environment, regular employee appreciation, or openness regarding dealing with complaints.
Having a solid company culture can result in highly motivated employees who look forward to coming to work every day and contributing in any way they can. If your company culture isn't where it should be, it can result in poor productivity and high employee turnover.
Entrepreneur Scott Crockett, Everest Business Funding’s CEO and founder, explains how to know if your company’s culture has gone wrong and how to fix a toxic company culture.
#1. Examine the Company's Core Values
Everything your company does should connect back to its core values. If you don't already have company values written down and shared with your employees, start there by doing so. That can serve as your blueprint going forward.
Publish these in your offices, on your website, and on your social media pages. Constantly remind employees of these values, and communicate them to your customers as well.
If you already have written core values, it's time to re-examine them to see if they still fit. If they don't, change them. If they do, it's time to analyze the other aspects of your business.
Make changes in organizational items, processes, products, and services, so everything ties back to your company's core values. This will help create a harmonious work environment where everyone knows what they're working for.
#2. Assess the Company's Managers
Often, a toxic work culture comes from managers who don't buy into the core values. They might disagree with the values or have beliefs of their own.
Their toxic approach to their job translates into toxicity among those who answer to them, spreading the bad culture instead of reinforcing a good culture.
If you want to fix your company culture, you need to start by assessing your management-level employees. Figure out who needs to stay and who's a valuable member of the team.
#3. Revise Your Hiring Process
Every company wants to hire the best candidates. However, many focus on the wrong things in the hiring process, which can lead to bringing people on board who don't fit with the company culture.
The company needs to stress values, company culture, and teamwork throughout the entire recruiting and hiring process. This means focusing less on paper-based qualifications and more on skills and communication.
Once you start hiring the right people, you'll be able to weed out the bad seeds easier.
#4. Create a Safe Work Environment
People need to feel safe in their work environment. Setting up channels for employees to freely share information, criticism, and feedback to their managers -- or someone else at the company -- is key to fixing a toxic workplace culture.
Scott Crockett suggests providing employees with a way to report internal issues without the fear of retaliation. Employees also need to feel safe about sharing ideas for improving a job, task, or product/service the company offers.
Reinforcing the importance and acceptance of open communication is key in this respect.
About Scott Crockett
Scott Crockett is the founder and CEO of Everest Business Funding. He is a seasoned professional with 20 years of experience in the finance industry. Mr. Crockett's track record includes raising more than $250 million in capital and creating thousands of jobs. Scott has founded, built, and managed several finance companies in the consumer and commercial finance sectors.