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Building a great company culture is essential for the employee’s morale and productivity. When people feel included in the mission and vision of the company, great results can be achieved.
“No company can thrive without having a strong culture,” explains Anna Nguyenova, who is the VP of Operations at TubeScience, the world’s largest social video advertiser.
In the last 6 months, Anna watched TubeScience become one of the fastest growing companies in America, spending millions of dollars a week on advertisements, generating billions of views every month, and experiencing phenomenal month-over-month revenue growth. The growth is even more impressive considering the fact that Anna started as the company’s seventh employee.
Yet in the midst of the explosive growth, she managed to preserve the company’s culture: “It’s so important that people find the place they spend at least 8 hours a day at to be enjoyable. It boosts employee morale and ultimately improves productivity and the company’s bottom line.”
Though every company culture is unique, Anna believes that there are three things any company can do to foster a cooperative culture:
1. Foster inclusion
When I was leading Flux Ventures, I tried to include every employee in the discussion by listening to their input. It is important that people feel that they are an active part of the company if you want them to do their best work.
“A shared and transparent culture encourages employees to realize and contribute to their full potential,” she says. Throughout her career she has also seen that it improves employee retention and satisfaction. “Simply get started with small steps. For example, invite people you never invited before to the next creative brainstorming session.”
2. Create great support networks
“When you are a new hire, the best way to learn about the company is not to talk to the CEO, but to talk to your peers.” Anna recommends encouraging employees to spend time with new hires, such as through the company’s sponsored lunch or after work activity. “It is at the company’s best interest for any new hire to integrate fast, and using your team’s help is one good way to do it.” It is important for employees to understand that they can learn from their peers, not just the head of the company.
3. Develop an effective employee handbook
Though some companies may find a printed employee handbook a thing of a past, Anna believes otherwise. She has found that having a clear handbook has been especially important when it comes to communicating the company’s standard policies and practices. “As a company continues to grow it becomes impossible for any one person to develop a deep relationship with every employee in the company. That’s when the handbook comes in. It should be comprehensive and should serve as definitive resource for employee expectations and vice versa.”
Conclusion
In summary, Anna emphasizes that it’s important that the culture evolves as the company grows. What may be important for a smaller company is much different for that same company as it expands to new offices and employs more people. A startup has different needs and attracts much different people than a established company, thus it is very important to tailor and refine a culture that is fit for each stage of the company.
How do you create your company culture?
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