The importance of company culture has been a hot topic for many businesses lately. It is one of the integral keys to employee satisfaction and retention. While it has become a buzzword for corporate settings, company culture is also important to the manufacturing industry.
As a manufacturing leader, how can you improve your company culture? Here are three ways to build your company culture and improve:
Define your company’s values and operate by them. Your company’s values should be at the center of everything you do. Make sure they are well-defined and communicated clearly to your employees. Your employees should know, understand and live the values each day, such as teamwork, integrity and communication each day. Try not to generalize. Provide concrete examples of how one can incorporate and commit to the company values. As a leader, set your own example of how to apply your values in your daily operations.
Recognize hard work and celebrate when goals are met. Employees should be recognized and rewarded for going above and beyond. Focusing on achievements will build your employees up and inspire them to continue to do well. The more you get into this, you will begin to see an increase in productivity. A public company announcement, a handwritten note or a gift card… these are just a few ideas of ways to recognize an employee’s job well done.
Build a community of transparency and trust. It’s crucial that employees feel that they are able to trust the management at their company. Communicate often with employees and be open and up-front about issues. One-on-one meetings, quarterly team meetings, company newsletters, presentations and plant floor updates are some of the many channels of communication you can utilize.
Impart information whenever possible. If there is a development that affects others, use the proper measures to disseminate the information so no one is left in the dark. Transparency is key. Not doing so can result in disengagement among employees, low productivity and loss of talent, to name a few. Read more about how to promote a culture of transparency here.
Keep these tips in mind when examining the state of your workplace culture. Improving your company culture will lead to happier and more engaged employees, better productivity and retention. To learn more about how to build culture in your company, download our free ebook.