We hear a lot of talking about the culture of this or this company, but it risks to become a buzzword, empty of meaning. Let’s settle down the bases! What exactly is? Why is so important? How to build your own corporate culture at your company? Find here some easy yet attractive tips to apply to your company and create your own identity. As always, innovate, be creative, and get your coworkers involved! Together, you’ll find a more accurate answer to the question “How does it look like to work at this company?”

What is the corporate culture?

The corporate culture is the life inside a company, composed by both written and non-written codes. These can be habits, conduct codes, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, way of interacting, traditions, protocols, guidelines… Some are more strict than others, but all of them conform the identity, the personality, of the company.

What is the purpose of the corporate culture?

The corporate culture of a company is closely associated with its mission, vision, values, and methodology. It’s what makes us different from the rest, and a proof that we lead with the example what we defend and state with words.

On the other hand, traditions within a company provide a feeling of belonging; being part of a family or community, enhancing engagement.

In fact, and as stated by the University of Illinois, traditions help us to build relationships among generations, they give security (which in times of change is always positive), and help to share values among the members.

Achtung!

But traditions do have a dark side too. Be careful when someone answers “because we have always done it like this” without any other reason… The moment has come to think things twice and to bring up the topic with your colleagues, deciding together if there is a more convenient and profitable way to work.

Ok, how can we develop our corporate culture?

There are some aspects helping to build up your corporate culture independently of your sector:

1. Establish one special day of the week: It can be the casual Fridays, where everybody can wear their favourite jeans or band t-shirt.

2. Encourage innovation: Maybe you can allocate some working time to work on ideas your colleagues may have. Flexibility and risk tolerance could be your corporate identity sign! Will you be the next Google?

Find here some ideas to develop a strong corporate culture, in collaboration with your colleagues

3. Get everyone involved, no hierarchies here! A good idea might be to have periodical lunches (every 3 months, for instance) mixing departments and hierarchies. A neutral place (outside of the office) and a relaxed ambiance will make communication flow! A slack channel open to the whole office might help everybody to express themselves too. Nextinit is other tool where everybody can express themselves, improving the company with their ideas, in a democratic, transparent and collaborative way.

4. Volunteering: Apart of being an excellent Corporate Social Responsibility action (we told you more about CSR here) it makes everybody feel they are part of something important, enhancing their engagement and creating traditions. Can you imagine “Every year we organise a campaign in my company to clean the beaches of plastic and other rubbish.” Cool, isn’t it?

How do you imagine your company? Which values would you confer it, and how would you express these values through your corporate culture? Share your ideas and proposals in Nextinit! The perfect point of start for a great corporate culture.