Organisational culture as part of your brand

Approximate reading time: 1m 58s

The baby boom generation is starting to retire and in its place are millennials who want to make the most of their careers and leave a lasting mark. Millennials seek a social work environment filled with purpose and meaning.

Generational change in the work environment is one of the biggest challenges companies must address. How do they get new employees to perform well? How do you convince them that you are striving for the same thing? How do you engage them in promoting your brand? The solution is to build a strong organizational culture.

How can you improve the organizational culture in your company?

Recruitment

Searching for new employees is a great opportunity to "sell" your brand. Let the potential employee see what you do - both for your customers and your employees.

Brand with a purpose

If there's one thing for sure that doesn't appeal to millennials, it's a sense of a lack of purpose or direction. The culture in your organization shouldn't just be an aspect of someone's identity; it should be the thing that gets people to come to work in the morning. Take, for example, the Toms Shoes company. It has a clear message: for every pair of shoes sold, the company donates a pair of new shoes to a child in need. In addition, Toms Shoes encourages its employees to participate in the delivery of the shoes. When they see in person how their brand is making the world a little better, they feel much more engaged and motivated with the company goals.

Future

An important question that all company executives need to ask themselves is, "What can our company give employees in the next few years?" If you can't answer, or your arguments aren't very convincing, you can evaluate how long your employees will want to work for you. If your employees don't feel secure about their future with the company, they are unlikely to be motivated to give their best.

The obvious solution is for your company to be transparent about goals and future development opportunities.

Professional development

To improve the culture in your organisation, in addition to keeping your employees informed, do your best to upskill them. Create training and development programmes for staff, and monitor their implementation.
Professional development is something all employees want - so you need to provide it.

Training for trainers

Train the leaders in your company on how to develop brand objectives. It's important that all managers have a full understanding of the brand, expressing it clearly, accurately and consistently - through words and actions.

Feedback

Organize an event or designate a day to invite all your employees to participate. Ask for their feedback and take their opinions into account.

Set goals

Ask all your employees to choose a brand-related goal. This will get them thinking constantly about their role in building the company culture. Once they fully understand your brand, they will naturally start adding value to it with everything they do.

Celebrate successes

When your employees see the results of their actions, they will engage more strongly with the brand. Communicate the status of your brand with them, share the results. Reward tangibly and intangibly people who take positive actions towards building company culture.