Moving forward: how to create a more positive company culture post COVID-19

Author
Dakota Murphey
Business Growth Consultant
4th August 2020

While the world is adjusting to life while social distancing, companies are beginning to figure out how to bounce back amid the global pandemic. One of the factors of running a business that can be difficult at the best of times is fostering a positive company culture, but this has become even more of a prominent issue in recent months. 

Organisations need to find ways to improve engagement, retention and performance, all while navigating Covid-19. The good news is that there are effective ways of creating a positive company culture that you can start implementing today. Here are some tips on how you can make your workplace a happier and more dynamic place to work each day. 

Flexible working

One of the main changes to come out of the pandemic is the increase in remote working. Companies have had to adapt swiftly in order to accommodate the need for social distancing. In order to do this successfully, businesses have had to be a lot more accommodating to the needs of their employees. 

But this has had a positive impact in many cases in allowing organisations to establish solid remote working processes. How companies choose to support their workers and flexible working is a sign of a great company culture and, moving forward, the businesses that can adapt to the needs of their staff will see a greater result in terms of culture and employee retention.  

Greater transparency

Transparency is key in any organisation, but particularly now that access to information is so important. Being transparent with your workers helps to encourage innovation and builds trust among the team, both in the company and in fellow employees. At a time when so much feels uncertain, having faith and trust is important – staff need to know they can rely on their employers to be open to conversations and keep everyone up to date with the latest developments. 

Transparency helps to develop a culture of honesty that is critical to success and happiness in the workplace. From making sure that everyone has access to a common information base to providing permission to figures on file-sharing platforms, there are various ways to making sure that everyone is working from the same page. 

Be more open to staff requests

A great way of creating an engaged and productive workforce is to listen to the needs of your staff and be more flexible with requests. Businesses that have a reputation of developing positive company cultures are those that are happy to adapt and understand the need for a balanced work-life balance.

Whatever it is that your staff need to be happy, stress-free and productive should be something that the company considers important, whether that’s updated training, remote working or flexible hours. While not all requests can be accepted, it’s important that employees feel able to ask and discuss their needs with their employers, without fear of being told no without consideration. 

Celebrating properly

Not all aspects of fostering a happier company culture need to be immediate – sometimes, it can be hugely beneficial to have something to work towards in the future too. One way of doing this successfully is to plan a celebration that everyone in the company can look forward to and enjoy together. 

“We have already had a large number of companies contacting us with interest in booking Christmas parties”, says the team at Christmas Venues London, “it has already been such a difficult year that businesses want something to look forward to. It is important for staff to have a party on the horizon, even taking into account the challenges caused by the coronavirus”. 

With the pandemic impacting our collective mood so significantly, having a fun and light-hearted event to look forward to can take our minds off the present and gives business owners the chance to show their appreciation to their employees. 

Keep the channels of communication open

With so many challenges being faced at the moment, as well as staff members working from numerous locations in many cases, communication is of paramount importance. Remote management demands plenty of regular feedback so that everyone can work on projects efficiently, while still enjoying autonomy, so make good use of email, phone and video technology to ensure that interactions are regular and thorough. 

Likewise, make sure that not all of the check-ins are business-related – remember to listen thoughtfully, let people know they can come to you to discuss issues and keep virtual meetings as ‘in person’ as possible. This will help to maintain great relationships within the workplace and ensures that your company remains a fun and friendly place to work.

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