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Creating a brand image where your company stands out requires careful planning. When others get a positive impression of your business, you’ll attract top talent, and customers will proudly share your message. Focus on company culture to perfect the foundation of your organization.
Excellent working environments spill over into customer service, employee retention, and innovation. Here are some ways to improve company culture and leverage it for an enhanced business valuation.
1. Set a Strategy
Gallup's 2023 State of the Global Workplace survey found that 52% of workers feel "a lot of stress." Company policies can impact culture and whether employees can relax at work and home. Stressed staff is less productive.
What do you want your business to feel like when people walk through the front doors or log into the system daily? Most brands would tell you they strive for a positive, inspiring, family-like atmosphere. Excellent company culture requires setting a strategy and taking the steps to achieve set goals.
2. Align Your Culture
Once you have a clear idea of your organization’s culture, take notes on where you already meet those expectations. Make another list of areas needing improvement. What steps get you to your vision?
When hiring new employees, look for people who share similar workplace goals over those with experience. You can train a talented individual to do tasks, but changing ingrained attitudes is more complicated. Hiring somebody already on the same page and adding to their knowledge is better than trying to untrain bad habits.
Put programs in place that embrace the company's values. A mentor program for new hires can effectively onboard them and show them the benefits of working for the brand. New people will be more likely to stay when they feel welcomed and confident in their skills.
3. Evaluate the Culture
Evaluate your business culture with a market approach. Write out your top competitors and what they are doing well. Determine why an investor might wish to work with their brand over your own.
The market approach is an authoritative valuation method that looks at publicly traded stock data. You can utilize market evaluation research to examine the company culture of your most successful competitors.
Employees may jump ship and leave for work at another business. Please make a list of possible reasons they’d go. Work to eliminate the advantages that other companies have. If a staff member offers a resignation because they are leaving for a similar role with the other brand, you can point out the improvements you’ve made and make an offer to keep them.
Surveying employees to find out what they’re happy with would be best. An anonymous form allows employees to be honest without fear of retribution. Take into account any complaints. You can also conduct exit interviews when someone leaves to see how you might offer a better work environment.
4. Set Policies Around Values
At the core of every company are some fundamental values tied to the mission statement. A beverage company may have started selling bottled water to performance athletes. They believe in pure water with additives to enhance health and physical results.
When the core value considers what is best for customers, it trickles down to what is best for company leaders, workers, and third-party providers. Write out the company’s core values, such as kindness, excellence, and value.
New policies must align with values to keep company culture untainted and brand image intact. To be seen as reliable and authentic, you must abide by your deepest beliefs. When you know what you believe, you’ll find the audience to match.
5. Utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The growth of AI in the past few years is astounding. Generative AI tools are driving rapid change. Most companies are tapping into AI for customer service, employee engagement, and attracting new audiences. One survey showed that 56% of businesses use AI in customer service.
Leverage AI to show customers and employees you’re up on the latest technology trends. Use it in a way that aligns with your company's ethics. For example, you might not want to use AI to write a blog post. However, you could use it for research, brainstorming, and outlining if you create something original after the initial process. Find a happy medium between embracing technology and sticking to your values.
You can also use chatbots to engage customers when agents aren’t available. You’ll save money by only paying agents when a question is more complex and needs a live human to answer. Customers will be happy to have 24/7 access to your brand. You can tell them in your marketing materials that you are always available for questions.
6. Empower Staff
Build a company culture that empowers staff and rewards them for taking ownership. Imagine trusting your workers enough to let them develop creative, out-of-the-box solutions for customers. You can use the solutions in case studies and other advertising to show potential clients your brand gets the job done.
Empowered staff also tend to be more satisfied in their roles. It is frustrating for a customer service rep to be unable to help a buyer because their concern falls outside common standards. Give them permission to help customers and trust them to look out for the best interest of their job at the same time. If you’re hiring and training appropriately, your employees will excel at customer service solutions that satisfy both parties.
A Healthy Company Is Easy to Promote
When your company culture is on point, the health of the entire brand soars. Employees will be more productive, and you’ll have less churn. The public expects business growth. Customers see the benefits of a thriving organization and tell family and friends, giving you free word-of-mouth marketing. A healthy company shines and gives you an edge over the competition in marketing by attracting top talent and more customers.
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