7 Ways You Can Boost Company Culture As An Employee

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It’s not a shock that when we say “company culture,” your mind probably goes to the efforts of your organization’s leaders to make your office a friendly and engaging environment. Maybe you even think of your boss or the CEO taking the responsibility to cultivate a good atmosphere. While these figures are traditionally at the helm of creating and maintaining a positive workplace experience, you as an employee have the power to contribute, too. Here are seven ways to go beyond just being a good coworker to boost your company culture.

1. Live out your company’s values.

Every company has values or a mission, and when you join an organization, you should be fully aware of what it strives for. We assume that when you accepted your current role, you felt that your values aligned with those of your company. So make an effort to actively live them out in the office each day. For example, if one of your company values is to give customers undivided attention 100 percent of the time, make sure to be in full focus on calls with your clients to provide them with that personal experience.

2. Identify your colleagues’ strengths and ask for one-on-one time to learn from them.

Engaging positively with your coworkers is an important part of maintaining company culture at all levels. Engage in a way that can benefit the company as a whole by asking your team members to sit down with you one-on-one to discuss an aspect of their jobs that they do really well. For example, if Karen is incredible at creating presentations, ask her to show you some tips. Everyone their own strengths, and you can always learn from your team to become a better coworker and a more effective employee.

3. Remember your team members’ birthdays.

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This may seem small-scale, but remembering the personal milestones of close teammates will make them feel acknowledged and important. Even taking your colleague out for a birthday coffee is a great way to boost morale in the office. It sets the standard of celebrating people, as well as celebrating the company.

4. Plan a happy hour every now and then.

Sure, you may already hang with your work bestie every Thursday after work, but expand your circle to include your team. You’ll achieve a sense of camaraderie. Taking some time to decompress and detach from your workday is super important, but make your 5 p.m. drinks even more productive by inviting some other colleagues. It promotes in-office friendships, which can make you more productive during the workday as long as your relationships are healthy (that means no gossiping or office politics!).

5. Adopt a code of full transparency.

Honesty is a great personal policy to have at work, and by being honest with your team, you help your office culture be more transparent in turn. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that you need to run up and down the hallway screaming about a piece of information your boss told you has to be kept under wraps for the time being. It just means that if your colleague asks what you’re working on, you tell her. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself “Is it absolutely necessary to keep this a secret?” If not, share away.

6. Have meaningful conversations with your boss.

Having a good relationship with your boss helps boost company culture because at the very least, you’re leading by example for other employees and bosses to see. But having good, meaningful conversations are even more important. Ask big questions about where your company is going and how you can direct your energy to help your company reach its biggest goals. It’s also a perfect opportunity to ask your boss if he or she has any pointers on contributing more to company culture as an employee, and to discuss your working relationship. You can also communicate whether you need more support and guidance than what you’re getting. The point is to make sure that any issue, big or small, is discussed with your boss on a regular basis to keep the healthy relationship going.

7. Acknowledge your team’s efforts, not just results.

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When it comes to performance, your boss and other higher-ups probably focus on the results more than the effort it took to achieve them. And to some extent it makes sense in that everyone’s jobs are affected by positive or negative results. However, it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate each other’s individual efforts, even if the results aren’t always amazing. If your coworker spent countless hours on a project that doesn’t deliver what he or she hoped, boost his or her esteem by saying “You did work hard on this and you are talented, even if it didn’t work out this time. Next time, you’ll do better!” By doing this, you’re promoting a healthy culture of building teammates up and encouraging them to try again, even if they didn’t succeed perfectly the first time.