9 tips to designing a great organizational culture

Organizational culture is one of those abstract aspects of a workplace. While it may be hard to define, research shows it drives impact. According to Gallup data, companies could see a 33% increase in revenue by cultivating a culture that attracts top talent.

Every organization has a culture, but not all company cultures have been nurtured or facilitated intentionally. Putting no effort into discovering your organization’s culture is a missed opportunity.

How to design a culture that works for your organization

At Avanti, we have a few thoughts on building a positive workplace culture. Here are some practical tips on how to design a culture that best suits your organization.

1. Don’t expect to have 100% control of your culture

Can a business truly design its company culture, or is culture merely the byproduct of employee engagement? While it may be idealistic to believe that an organization or its leaders can fully control and shape culture to match a specific vision, it is also inaccurate to assume that culture is entirely out of reach and solely a product of evolving dynamics.

As leaders, it’s your role to facilitate culture by putting together proper structures, guard rails, and activities to ensure it grows and adapts

2. Be a role model and steward of your culture

If there is no leadership buy-in and modelling, the impact and adoption of an organization’s culture will be severely limited. No matter how great your culture looks on paper, employees will observe and inevitably implement the behaviour they see.

A great example of how leaders can be role models is how they treat Paid Time Off (PTO). A business can claim that they want employees to take vacation time, but if a leader only takes one day of vacation a year and on that day sends out 45 different emails, it’s hard to compare the lived behaviour with the spoken words. Living the culture and being a role model is critical.

3. Ask for feedback regularly

As your business grows, your culture will naturally evolve with it. Defining and designing your culture is not a set-it-and-forget-it scenario. It requires ongoing attention and adjustment. The best way to ensure your culture is progressing in the right direction is to regularly ask for honest employee feedback. Share the results, acknowledge areas that need improvement, and make necessary changes in response.

4. Hire for cultural enhancement

One critical role of leaders in facilitating and managing your company culture is in the hiring process. The people you bring into your organization and their alignment with your core values can either enhance your culture or hurt it.

Many leaders agree that although skills and subject matter can be taught and trained, it’s very difficult to teach culture. A candidate with a fantastic resume might not be a great addition to your culture, which can be damaging and costly.

5. Praise and promote people who exemplify your culture

Another impactful way leaders can build culture is through recognition. By recognizing and promoting role models of the culture, you set an example for the behaviours that are rewarded and elevated within the organization.

6. Don’t try to copy another company’s culture

Every organization and its culture is unique. Programs or policies that work perfectly for one company can be a flop at another.

7. Design programs that fit your culture

A program or policy can be well designed, but if your culture isn’t where it should be, even the best programs and policies may not be effective. Understanding your organization’s current state and primary needs will help identify the most suitable programs to implement and when to do so.

8. Put your money where your mouth is

Designing a great culture takes investment — time, money, and people. Organizations that really care about their people and culture will invest in their HR teams because they see these groups as strategic for creating value across the organization and enabling everyone to be the best version of themselves.

9. Strive to get it right

There’s no one size fits all solution for company culture. Rather, there’s the right culture for the right group of people at the right time.

As an organization grows and new team members join, a company’s culture will inevitably evolve. By establishing foundational core values, supporting people to exemplify and promote the culture, and having checkpoints in place to review and reinforce the culture, leaders will have guidelines to continue enhancing their company culture as it grows.