3 Simple Ways You Can Create a Company Culture of Purpose
Everyone wants to feel like they have a purpose, especially the hard-working, creative young minds who are now entering the workforce. Unlike the generations of workers before them, today’s job-seekers place a greater emphasis on the values that an organization espouses, rather than simply the monetary rewards the organization offers to employees. For this reason, it is important to develop a company culture of purpose if you want to attract some of the most value-driven employees to your company.
Do you want to make sure that your company is not at a disadvantage over other companies in your field If so, it is time to take a long, hard look at your company culture. Is it driven by purpose and meaning, or is it fueled primarily by profit and monetary rewards If your company culture is not currently cohesive and value-based, here are three simple ways you can create a culture of purpose that will attract the most vibrant and driven job-seekers.
1. Encourage Openness
A company culture of purpose must invite openness and innovative thinking. Employees and companies who successfully embrace a culture of openness are constantly bettering themselves by actively seeking out new information and improving their practices based on current findings in their field. Companies that encourage openness place greater emphasis on learning how to effectively correct mistakes than on implementing restrictive policies in an effort to avoid mistakes altogether. The company as a whole works together to correct mistakes as a team and learn from those mistakes in a proactive way.
Companies that stubbornly adhere to a tribal culture in which departments are resistant to change, are the antithesis of openness and innovation. A company that fosters openness celebrates the variety of perspectives, styles and skills that different employees bring to the table, while tribal cultures tend to stifle creativity and encourage sameness throughout the company. This can lead to stagnation and ultimately a chronic lack of purpose. Open companies often employ passionate people who throw themselves into their work with vigor and excitement.
2. Maintain Optimum Energy
A company culture of purpose is one that maintains optimal levels of energy. Many companies struggle with losing long-term momentum while developing projects, ideas and improvements. Companies with a culture of energy are constantly sizzling with vitality and purpose as team members work relentlessly toward a shared objective. Everyone has a part to play in high-energy companies, and they do so with vigor.
Companies that are the opposite of energetic often place too many road blocks in place and end up inadvertently discouraging progression. Many low-energy companies suffer from chronic missed deadlines and discouraged employees. If you want to maintain an optimal level of energy in your company, it must start at the top and trickle down. When an objective is decided upon, chase the objective with vigor, and give employees actionable assignments that they can pursue with minimal constraints. Be open to compromise that may be necessary to reach a mutually agreed-upon decision, and don’t restrict important decisions to the corporate hierarchy without allowing employee input. Your entire team should feel like an integral part of the company’s aspirations and projects.
3. Build Resilience
A company culture of purpose must remain resilient under pressure and stress. No one wants to work for a company that crumbles underneath the weight of resistance and unexpected challenges. Employees who share a culture of resilience are able to accept responsibility for their mistakes when things go wrong, and they are able to rely on their fellow team members to support them and help them fix their mistakes. Companies that don’t build a culture of resilience are often composed of team members who are quick to point fingers and blame others for their mistakes. This type of atmosphere does not encourage team support or problem-solving, and can make employees feel discouraged and isolated.
If you want your company to respond quickly to errors and encourage a concentrated team effort when it is needed most, be sure to build resiliency from the top down. The biggest enemy of company resiliency is a culture of beurocracy, where internal processes are too rigid and communication is only filtered through the highest levels of the company and not entrusted to the entire team as a whole.
Creating a company culture of purpose takes determination and time, but it is well worth the effort. We welcome you to utilize the many resources at Mighty Recruiter to further improve your culture and attract quality employees to your company.