5 Steps to Improve Your Company Culture with a Special Event
Company culture is an important contributor to your employees’ satisfaction and ultimately, your business bottom line. Consider these five factors when planning your culture building event planning checklist.
If you’re reading this article, you probably already know that company culture is an important contributor to your employees’ satisfaction and ultimately, your business’s bottom line. Even if you secretly cringe at the overuse of the buzzword, it’s what’s at the heart of the term company culture that’s really important. That is, how well your company’s core values and greater purpose align with your employees’ personal values and goals.
From increased revenue growth to retention, recruitment, reputation, and a stronger sense of community and enjoyment, there’s much to gain from strengthening your companies culture.
One of the best ways to bolster your company culture is to create opportunities for connection and interaction in a way that reinforces your company’s core values. Enter, the company culture building, special event!
Wondering where to start? Include these five key steps in your culture-building event planning checklist, and set yourself up for success in tackling the important and exciting task of improving company culture at your workplace!
Step 1: Assess and Define
You can’t move towards a goal if you don’t know what that goal is. So, before you hammer down any details, make sure you know what your company’s culture (or values) truly are. Re-read your company’s mission statement, talk to high level executives, familiarize yourself deeply with the purpose of your organization, so that you can customize your event to reinforce those values.
You should also be clear about where your employees’ knowledge is of those values, as well as their own. Consider offering a survey to employees prior to planning your event to better understand your current state. This will provide a benchmark for comparison later on, so you can track the strength of your company’s culture as you make efforts to improve it.
Step 2: Create an event that re-enforces your company’s core values
Now that you have a deep understanding of the status of your company culture and values, you should have the tools you’ll need to make a decision about what type of event you should have. Charity events, educational seminars, employee appreciation events, are just a few examples of the types of events that might reinforce your company’s culture. The important part to remember is that the type of event and all associated activities you have planned should reflect your company’s greater purpose. Another important factor to consider is your employees values and interests. The event should be something that people enjoy, that they will get something out of, and be a positive environment that provides opportunities for team members to connect in meaningful ways.
Step 3: Encourage Participation
The more employees that attend the event, the more successful it will be. So, get the word out early – send an email, post signs in common areas, and send reminders leading up to the event. High level executives needn’t sit these events out either. In fact, leadership participation sends an important and positive message to employees that they are united and valued members of the team. According to a 2012 Deloitte study, access to management/leadership ranks third highest, behind candid communications and employee recognition in factors that impact company culture.
Step 4: Have fun
Event day comes around and you’ve put in the work – thoughtfully crossing your t’s and dotting your I’s throughout the event planning process. Don’t forget to take a step back now and enjoy the people you’ve brought together. Take the time to have genuine, human conversations with your co-workers that go beyond everyday small talk. Ask questions and take the time to get to know one another. Leading by example and creating an environment to make these interactions easy will encourage others to do the same.
Step 5: Seek feedback and Track your learnings
This is where we bring it back full circle to step one. Survey participants again to see what their perception of company culture is post event. See if they enjoyed themselves, feel more or less connected to their fellow team members, and check in on the status of their understanding of the company values and goals, as well as if they feel like it jives with them on a personal level.
Make the survey anonymous to encourage complete honesty in their responses. Be sure to repeat this exercise as you hold similar events over time. Doing so will give you the tools to better understand the effectiveness of your events, and the trajectory of your company culture.