Only 2% of small businesses have between 20 and 499 employees. According to serial entrepreneur and thought leader Gary Vaynerchuk, reaching this point involves, “reacting to the market and tripling down on success.” However, once you’re at this stage, you need to start thinking about how your culture aligns with your long-term goals if you want to keep growing. 

Organizational culture is the ingredient that motivates your employees to get out of bed each morning. It increases employee engagement at work, differentiates your company from the rest of the marketplace, and helps you attract world-class talent. 

How To Build Your Organizational Culture as Your Business Takes the Next Step

A solid culture doesn’t just attract the right kind of workers to your business. It also helps with team and mission alignment. When people know what your company is about, they’re able to work toward common objectives. If you’re striving to build your company culture from the bottom up, there are a few important steps you need to take. 

1. Begin With Your Values and Mission

Your purpose, mission, and values are the framework that you’ll build your entire culture around. Because of this, it’s essential to reflect on what your company is about. Employee surveys are just the beginning. To understand your mission, take some time to research why customers turn to your business and what kind of problems you solve for them. Then, use all of this information to build your mission, values, and purpose. 

2. Create Onboarding Checklists 

Once you’ve determined the type of culture your company has or would like to have, the next step is bringing it to life. In Asure’s recent HR Benchmark Report, we found that about one out of four companies that didn’t grow last year used onboarding checklists. Among fast-growth companies, we found that 9 out of 10 used onboarding checklists.

Onboarding checklists are important because they introduce workers to your culture and give them the tools they need to succeed. As many as one out of three workers quit within the first three months. By improving your onboarding process and giving your workers more clarity, you can improve your retention rate.

3. Build Formal Orientation Programs 

When you have a good culture, people want to stay. In fact, a good culture can be one of the biggest reasons why people want to work for your company in the first place. 

The co-founder and CEO of Hubspot, Brian Halligan, discussed his own experience with company culture. “We kitted up a quick Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey to take the temperature of our 100 or so employees… I was shocked to read in the comments to this 1-question survey that the primary reason people like working at Hubspot was they loved the culture. So, we dove in, tried to fully understand the culture we already had, and we documented it.”

As you build your formal orientation process, you should include elements of your culture. Pair employees up with mentors, implement company-wide meetings, and encourage collaboration. When you have a strong culture and hire workers that match your culture, it creates an environment where everyone can succeed. Your formal orientation process is the employee’s first foray into your organizational culture, so it needs to be well-designed.

4. Understand What Makes Your Culture Great 

Before you can replicate your culture and create policies that bring it to life, you have to understand what makes it great. Talk to your employees, customers, vendors, and other stakeholders to see what people think of your company and why they care about it. 

This feedback will likely include the most important elements of your company’s culture as well as things you should focus on improving. Once you have this information, try incorporating it into your HR policies, onboarding materials, benefits, and day-to-day tasks. For example, you may want to add wellness programs, like mental health access and nutritional snacks, if your company culture revolves around well-being and healthy lifestyles.

5. Invest in Human Capital Management (HCM) Systems

As your company grows, handling HR practices, managing payroll, and generating tax forms will become increasingly complex. HCM systems, also known as payroll & HR software, can help you scale effortlessly. These tools include all of the latest compliance information, so you don’t have to research state and federal laws on your own. 

With the best HCM systems, you can enjoy a number of important benefits. 

• Time tracking 
• Tax form generation for W-2s, 1099s, and other forms
• Payroll management 
• HR compliance libraries
• HR document tracking and storage
• Performance management tools 
• Onboarding facilitation and documentation

6. Communicate Your Culture 

Once you decide what your culture is and what you care about most, the next step is conveying your culture to others. You may want to use some or all of the following techniques to convey your culture to employees, customers, and other stakeholders. 

• Employee handbooks 
• HR policies 
• Email updates 
• Employee portals 
• Team meetings 
• Company picnics and special events 
• Employee-of-the-month certificates and awards for achievements related to your culture
• Training programs 

7. Design Employee Recognition Programs 

One way to show the culture you want is through recognition. When an employee does something that exemplifies your culture, reward them for it. This recognition can come in the form of a simple thank you, group lunch, gift card, or bonus. 

In addition to improving your company culture, employee recognition programs can show appreciation and boost engagement. Plus, public recognition encourages other employees to perform the same behaviors.

8. Conduct Employee Surveys 

To figure out what works for your company, try surveying your workers. Ask about what they enjoy about working there, their favorite parts of the company’s culture, and reasons why they might consider leaving. Then, you can use data from this survey to determine the best way to build your organization’s culture and the adjustments you need to make.

Why Company Culture Encourages Long-Term Business Growth 

A strong company culture can impact your long-term business growth in a few important ways. 

• With a strong culture, you can boost employee engagement and satisfaction.
• Employees are less likely to quit if they are engaged and happy, so you can enjoy having better retention rates.
• A good culture attracts top-quality applicants, so you can spend less time and energy on recruitment.
• Engaged, satisfied workers are more productive. In turn, this can drive revenue growth. 
• Plus, having happy, engaged workers and a thriving culture tend to create satisfied customers. 

Learn More About Taking Your Company to the Next Level

Now that your company is in the next stage of growth, it’s time to make sure your culture is aligned with your goals. Through a better organizational culture, your company can achieve its long-term growth and profitability goals. 

To learn more about achieving cultural alignment in your workplace, reach out to our team of small business HR and payroll experts today.