All-in about corporate culture? Instead, focus on the community

Glenn is the founder and CEO of GaggleAMPa platform for employee advocacy and engagement.

By now you probably know how important it is to build a strong company culture. But have you ever asked yourself if you are building a strong business? community?

A community is made up of individuals from different backgrounds and points of view who come together around shared goals and values. In addition, I believe that thriving communities make room for cultural differences rather than sticking to a one-size-fits-all approach. When businesses operate as communities, people can feel more comfortable being their authentic selves, allowing them to form deeper connections with colleagues. You know what else happens in communities? Conversation.

Think about your local community. Discussions take place between households and community groups. Some of these conversations bubble up to the city council, whose members will hopefully take action if necessary. Similarly, companies need mechanisms to facilitate and record conversations so they can understand employee sentiment and execute great ideas.

Corporate cultures are evolving into dynamic communities.

None of this community conversation is intuitive to business leaders, as most organizations are designed around achieving fiscal results or market growth. But financial metrics and community building are more closely linked than people may realize. When employees feel like they are contributing to their community, they can feel a greater sense of purpose and be more productive and engaged at work. They are also more likely to stay, which reduces sales. In this way, a strong community advances business goals and drives fiscal results.

I have to admit that at first I didn’t understand the whole thing in the workplace either. I never felt the burning need to “be myself” at work, tell my co-workers what I was wearing for Halloween, or what team I was cheering for this weekend. Maybe because I’m a product of late 1990s corporate America, where those kinds of exchanges were limited to the water cooler or the annual company picnic.

In fact, it seemed that even sharing your ideas was frowned upon for the company. I remember my boss hired a consulting firm to gather feedback from various departments. Meanwhile, my team and I had been trying to share our thoughts for months. That was a very different working environment than it is now. Basically everyone dressed the same; you couldn’t express yourself through fashion, and you couldn’t express yourself through conversation either.

Look around your office or video conference call today and you’ll see how dress codes have evolved. To me, the dress code is representative of a company’s evolution as a wider community that is more diverse than ever before. The differences you’ll encounter vary between industries and geographies. But all companies need to find a way to encourage differences between employees while keeping everyone rowing in the same direction. This balancing act will become even more complicated and crucial as organizations continue to hire remote workers from across the country or the world.

Use technology as the backbone of your community.

With the right culture and community-building tools, your organization can continually collect the kind of input that would otherwise require a consultant. Of 77% of employees anticipating their employers going fully remote or hybrid models by 2023 and beyond, chances are most of your employees will be working from home at least some of the time (and you may notice a change in what they wear).

Ongoing conversation and community building between hybrid teams is already happening on messenger platforms like Slack and Teams, as well as more visual employee advocacy platforms that serve as a closed social media network for your teams. Just be sure to make room for people to share a glimpse of life outside of work.

You should also not lose sight of “no-tech” solutions such as face-to-face meetings or events. If your business is completely remote, in addition to the technical approach mentioned above, you can look for ways for your staff to meet and interact face-to-face. For example, a few things that have worked at my outside company are bi-annual leadership meetings, product meetings, and leveraging employee onboarding to create a “team on site” for the department doing the hiring.

This can lead to meaningful connections with colleagues that can contribute to a more cohesive and productive workforce. You also get happier employees, and happy employees are 13% more productive than unlucky ones, according to a study by Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.

Benefit from an open dialogue.

To those executives who cling to old-fashioned corporate cultures, just because you don’t personally feel the need for a more meaningful connection at work doesn’t mean the need isn’t real.

I would also like to ask: what is holding you back? I’ve heard HR teams say they’re afraid they can’t control the dialogue. I would say it is better to solve problems internally than externally. If people don’t have a way to voice their complaints within the “walls” of your company, they’re more likely to turn to public forums like LinkedIn or Twitter. Besides, not every conversation requires action from business leaders. Employees can and will solve problems and implement ideas themselves.

Treat your business like a community and you can create a great, dynamic culture that people want to help shape. Not only will you retain employees, but you will also attract others who want to work for a place that respects the feelings of the community.

I take pride in running my business as a community where everyone’s ideas have value. Employees feel close to each other, no matter how far they are physically apart. By focusing on community, you can improve employee satisfaction at work and in business operations.

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