09 Sep Contact Center CEO Shares 5 Secrets to Building a Better Company Culture
While most are familiar with the term, company culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors held by a corporation’s management and employees, which can be recognized in client transactions as well as day-to-day business functions. Company culture is constantly growing and developing due to the cumulative traits of both seasoned employees and new hires within an organization.
Many entrepreneurs today struggle with creating and nurturing their company’s culture. How do you create a company culture that is conducive to loyalty and success in a competitive market? Ping pong tables? A coffee shop in the lobby?
Given the reputation call centers have for being transient and well… unpleasant places to work, who better to answer that question than a contact center CEO.
#1 – Focus on Company Values
Your core company culture includes your character and values as well as your style. An employee believed $120 was taken from a wallet. Granted, the wallet was left in an accessible place to others, but that’s not the point. Rather than ignore the situation, I took $120 out of my own wallet to replace the employee’s money. No big deal was made about it. Not many people saw me do it. But that $120 bought more than a few bricks for our company’s foundation of values. How your organization handles day-to-day issues says a lot about your style. Nurture an impressive and visionary company culture when you lead by example, gaining the respect of your employees with both actions and words. That’s one of our core values at Centrinex.
#2 – Ensure Employees Believe in Your Brand
You may not realize this, but employees within your organization want to believe in the company as well as the jobs they perform. When employees believe in your brand, you build loyalty and that means less turnover as your workers aren’t likely to leave for a slight bump in pay. This is imperative because employees cannot properly promote and sell your brand if they do not believe in it.
#3 – Secure a Universal Focus, the Customer
Your business cannot strive if everyone has a different focus, weakening the core of your company culture. No one cares what is ideal for your CEOs, but everyone will be on board when the end goal focuses on the customer. That being said, you may have to consider long-term results rather than the here and now to secure the absolute best customer focus.
#4 – Be Transparent with Employees in Regards to Company Decisions
When the corporation is facing an important decision or a pending deadline that could potentially affect everyone, you can build a better company culture by confiding in your employees. Letting workers know about company decisions can make them feel more invested, creating an opportunity for employees of all levels within the business to help with solutions and face challenges together. This creates camaraderie and a better work ethic while building a desirable company culture.
#5 – Acknowledge and Celebrate Company Achievements
It should be no surprise that acknowledging and celebrating employee achievements are both excellent ways to build a company culture you can be proud of. Large or small victories are an excellent way to make employees feel like a valued and important part of your organization. This leads to happier employees and even better work performances.
Knowing the importance of your corporate culture further reinforces the ideal that employees are the backbone of your business and is a key factor in your company’s overall success. Here’s a little bonus secret: when you ask employees how they are doing, pause. Most likely, they’ll respond with the proverbial, “Fine.” Pause. Wait. 30 seconds. Chances are they will tell you more and the conversation can go from there.