Company culture took a backseat since the pandemic hit, this blog investigates possible ways to rebuild again both remotely and in the office.What is company culture and how has it been affected?

Company Culture is the way people feel about the work they do, the values they believe in, where they see the company going and what they’re doing to get it there. Collectively, these traits represent the personality and culture of a company which plays an important role of why employees choose to work there, attracting new talented professionals and keeping them there for the long-term. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected employee expectations around flexibility with many calling for leaders to redefine their approach to culture management. The lockdown we faced last year and the beginning or this year had employees working from home or being on the furlough scheme. This meant changing routines, adapting to working from home or facing uncertainty which will affect company culture greatly now things are moving back to more ‘normal’ circumstances.How can we rebuild our company culture?

It is important to maintain a strong company culture for your employees both in the office and remotely. One way to help build a good working environment is to consider each employee personally, we can do this by a couple of ways below:

Get to know your team: Create a ‘manual of me’ for each employee to complete, these benefit employees working from home and is a list of questions that create a profile of this person to help companies know and understand their employees. Questions could include ‘what makes you happy?’ ‘When I feel stressed, I would like people to help me by…?’ and ‘For me to do my best at work I need?’ etc.

Establish core values and action them: Core values are certainly part of your culture, but until you put them into action, they’re just words on paper. In fact, core values can negatively impact culture if they aren’t adhered to.

Be as flexible as you can be: Consider introducing flexible working, this can help employees to be able to be there for their children or be able to fit their work around their hobbies etc. This helps with mental wellbeing, employee retention and attracting new recruits. If there’s one thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, it’s that the standard nine-to-five working day has become more difficult to apply universally among staff.

Involve your entire team: Organising a get together for employees can help build and maintain good team relationships. This can also combat feelings of isolation and encourage a sense of inclusion to all staff members working remotely and in the office. Why is a good company culture so important?The importance of company culture is not only about the atmosphere in the office, but also about your company reputation, how you successfully recruit and your employee retention along with  the overall company performance.

Company culture impacts every facet of your business. LinkedIn asked over 26,000 professionals what they look for most in an employer, 66% of job seekers consider a company’s culture and values the most important factor when considering career opportunities.

A recent report has shown that organizations with strong cultures boast 72% higher employee engagement rates than those with weak cultures.Are you a candidate seeking a good company culture?You can learn a lot about a company’s values and benefits from reading their website, reviews and the job advert. However, the best way to get answers about a company culture is to ask culture questions that are important to you in the interview. These could be questions about how the team operates, work-life balance and what they enjoy most about working there.

If you are a company looking to hire candidates or a candidate looking for a new role with a good company culture, we can help you! Contact us today >> admin@busybeerecruitment.co.uk / 01353 880253