In November I had the pleasure of attending the all-staff dinner as part of the Farallon Consulting retreat (Farallon is an environmental consulting firm on whose board I serve). It was an exhibition of culture at its best.
While I only heard reports about the day’s activities (and happy hour) I witnessed a group of people on the same page. While there’s an endless supply of “bad” stories about managers, culture, etc. a good way to start the new year is to consider what a good culture means, whether you have a few employees, dozens, scores, or hundreds.
- Realize even companies with the best culture still have issues, but those issues are at the other end of the spectrum from the shenanigans on The Office. It’s simply because people are people.
- A good culture means better collaboration to achieve goals, whether it’s increased revenues, better productivity, reduced costs, or anything else. When employees work well together the boss (business owner in small companies) spends less time refereeing and more time strategizing.
- When employees enjoy their work environment they want to work there, will do extra, will not be job switching and that means higher employee retention. Given the costs of replacing someone, this is huge.
There are a lot of people who help companies improve their culture, and it’s worth it (when done correctly). This month is a good time to assess your culture and do what it takes to improve it.
“Every day on Earth is another chance to get it right.” Steve Earle
