A Healthy Culture Depends on Healthy Relationships

How’s your company’s culture doing? Whether you’re a business owner, manager or HR professional, now is the time to be asking this question.

Times are tough for lots of businesses. You know it, I know it…the whole world knows it. But if there’s something to be learned from the pandemic, it’s how valuable a company’s culture can be.

Is everyone on the same page?

Is your team aware of the challenges, but hopeful for the future?

Are their eyes on the prize in the face of adversity?

These are invaluable traits. They’re also the mark of businesses that are built to last.

How many of these questions were you honestly able to answer with a "yes"? If your answer to any of them was "no," or you’re unsure of your answers, you might want to go a few steps further by asking yourself the questions below:

How’s my connection with my team?

Asking what your team is dealing with will help you build a connection with them. They’ve got hopes, dreams, stresses and fears that they bring into work with them every single day.

Whether they’re having money issues, or their kid scored the game-winning goal in a soccer match over the weekend, you have to recognize the importance of engaging with them in their worlds. If you choose not to, they’ll think you don’t care because they don’t see you making the effort.

Do they grasp and understand the vision?

Having a clearly defined vision for your company is essential. Your future depends on it. It also depends on your ability to communicate that vision to your team.

As a leader, you have to share your vision with your team early and often. Your people need to see you exemplify the company vision and hear it from you on a regular basis. Why? Because that vision lets your team see the future it’s working toward. Without it, they’ll lose focus and your company won’t reach its goals.

Ask yourself,has my team caught the vision? Do they get it?If they don’t, you’ll suffer the high costs of having a team that isn’t invested in your business’s big picture. When you cast your vision, it gives your team the chance to see the part they play. And that helps foster an entrepreneurial spirit and sense of ownership.

They know they matter…right?

Everyone wants to be appreciated for the work they do. But for as much appreciation as you may feel for your team, it’s not always easy to show it. That means you have to be intentional.

There are lots of ways to show your employees they matter, but the most meaningful will be the ones that benefitthem. Fringe benefits like a free lunch or coffee are easy ways to recognize individual team members. You can even memorialize their success with something for their desk, and recognition in front of the team. On a larger scale, team-wide benefits like financial wellness can play an important part in communicating company values. Giving them the means to take steps toward their dreams and goals show you genuinely care about them as people-in andout of the office.

You can show your team they matter with little things and big things. But the most important thing is thatyoudoitconsistently.

A healthy culture depends on healthy relationships

As you think about your answers, keep in mind a company culture can only be as good as the relationship between its leaders and its team. It starts withyou, the leader.Youare the architect of a healthy culture. It’s up toyouto connect with your team, cast your vision and show your people that they matter.

Over time, if you do these things consistently and with heart, your business will gain a reputation as a great place to be!