In my last blog I talked about the three superpowers you need to create a great company culture, those of Connection, Purpose and Trust. But there’s a little more to it than this. These superpowers are supported by what I call the elements or ingredients that make the great culture you want to become a reality.

Now, I’m sure you’ve come across companies that have put in a pool table, have lots of Zoom quizzes, and they think that will suffice. Maybe they’ve even put in sleep pods in their attempt to have the funkiest office in town. Of course, all of this doesn’t make a great culture if the organisation doesn’t deliver on Connection, Purpose and Trust. And that’s where my tips come in.

1) Have a culture strategy

As you can tell, I’m a little cynical about gimmicks. You need to think a little deeper. A little more strategically. Where are you now in terms of your culture, where do you want to be? What’s your ‘target culture’? And how can you measure this to create your start point. For me, the people that drive a culture strategy are, or should be, the leadership team.

As we know, leaders are your role models. They have a profound effect upon company culture because they shape the environment, they influence how people behave, how people interact, and they drive motivation and performance. And of course, what the leaders do is look at the strategy and look at the purpose. Your leaders need to be involved in your culture strategy but more than this, they need to display the right qualities.

2) Authentic leadership

The great leaders I’ve worked for, display qualities like empathy, resilience, integrity, and they’re authentic. And that really does set a strong foundation. Going right back to childhood, we tend to model the characteristics we see in others, especially those who we feel we should look up to. Whether it’s parents – or leaders – the behaviours we see we often replicate.

So, my second tip is about making sure your leaders display the right qualities and develop them. And it’s often the leadership team that can make a big impact in often small ways. Little interventions can make a big impression on development.

3) Help them find their purpose

I’ve done many culture audits where I ask people for their views on the culture, why they work for that organisation and what motivates and engages them. And I always ask a really key question. Can they articulate the purpose of the organisation? Is it important to them? Can they join the dots on how their role aligns to that actual purpose?

And I would say in having done this with over 30 organisations, about 50% of people cannot articulate the purpose. It may be because there isn’t one or maybe because it’s not clear. My question to you is – can you give your people a reason ‘why’ and reinforce it?

4) Upskill your leaders and managers

It’s quiz time now. What percentage of people in a recent survey said they would prefer a new manager to a pay rise? Shockingly it’s a whopping 72%. I love this question because it was asked by the Chartered Institute of Management, and it clearly demonstrates how important the relationship is between the employee, and the manager or leader. I think managers have such an influence on people’s day-to-day work style and behaviours.

They are there to support and coach people, not micromanage. But, from my experience, many people are not skilled at being great people managers, they are often promoted to be people managers because they’re technically good at what they do. So, tip number four is to upskill your leaders, upskill your managers to be brilliant coaches, and that will have a dramatic effect on the culture.

5) Give your people choices

I hear this a lot, certainly since the pandemic. We gave people flexibility and they’d rather like to keep it. Of course it means different things to different people. It might be about working hours; it might be about working locations or actually how they do their work. I believe it’s something deeper than actually flexibility. I think people want autonomy in their roles, they want control over how they do their roles.

So, tip number five is really all about giving people a choice. And not the least because they also have the choice of whether they work for you or engage with a culture they perceive to be better, elsewhere.

In conclusion

If there’s one word underpinning these five tips, it’s ‘involvement’. Whether that’s your involvement in crafting a culture strategy, involving your leaders or asking your people for their own thoughts – and involving them in making all of this happen. If I’ve whetted your appetite for investing in creating a great culture, you’ll be pleased to know that my next article shares 5 more tips. Or maybe that’s 6. You’ll have to wait and see.

About Richard Roberts

Richard Roberts has over 30 years’ experience of helping organisations establish dynamic people strategies that help to shape culture and build highly productive and engaged teams. Across his career he has supported a number of marketing and creative agencies as an outsourced HR Director and consultant.

People Strategy Surgery – for creative businesses

Members can book a free of charge 30 minute 1:2:1 session with Richard for people strategy advice, specifically geared towards the needs of creative businesses. Taking place on 10th January 2025, these sessions are an opportunity to ask him any questions about your people strategy. These might relate to culture, employee engagement, talent retention or the establishment of best practice HR policies.

Find out more: https://bristolcreativeindustries.com/event/people-strategy-surgery-with-richard-roberts/

About enRich

Hello my name is Rich Roberts and I’ve been a freelance Culture and People Consultant for over ten years helping to build high performing teams through having a positive,engaging and motivating culture.