Are you wondering how to improve company culture and create a better team? Here’s the scoop.
Believe it or not, spending some time thinking about how to improve company culture comes with numerous benefits. Happier employees stick with companies longer, offer better customer service, are more likely to recommend their company to other people, and you usually end up with more long-term, happier clients. Company culture, unfortunately, tends to be low on the list of things we work toward.
There are plenty of ways to make your commercial cleaning business successful, of course. You can be efficient with your supplies, keep up with equipment maintenance, and make sure your bids are accurate. One way to reach success, however, is to focus on company culture.
Company culture doesn’t often get the attention it deserves outside of tech start-ups. To be clear, this does not mean you need to buy ping pong tables or invest in catered lunches. Company culture is about the way people interact and treat each other. It’s about your company’s ethics and relationships and the way you do business. And while you may not notice a big ROI right away, a positive company culture leads to big gains.
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How to improve company culture with 10 (mostly) simple changes
If you’re thinking about why or how to improve company culture, you’re already on the right track. That means you care about the experience people have with your commercial cleaning company, from customers to employees to your community. So what steps are you going to take to turn that into action?
1. Put safety first. Janitorial work isn’t always performed under the safest of circumstances. Your team is working after regular business hours. They’re working with potentially hazardous cleaning products and lifting heavy objects. Still, safety needs to come first if you want to know how to improve company culture. Everyone on your team needs to feel safe and cared for when they go to work.
2. Make respect a standard. Respect is a primary component of any team that works well together. That means appreciating the experience of everyone on the team and just being nice. This isn’t just for managers and business owners, either. Make it an expectation all the way around. It’s just as important as safety or showing up on time, or any other part of the job.
3. Recognize everyone on the team. You might be surprised how far a little acknowledgment goes. Thank them for being there, doing a good job, trying something new, or being pleasant to work with. You don’t have to do this every shift, but try to say something to at least one new person each day.
4. Improve your training and onboarding. If there’s a starting point in how to improve company culture, this is as good a place as any. Make sure that when new people come into your team, they get plenty of training, and everything is clear, from how to clock in, to the rate of pay, to the schedule.
5. Incorporate continued training. One way to retain great people and open your business up to new opportunities is through ongoing training and certifications.
6. Listen. When you listen to your team and incorporate their ideas into company strategy or changes, they feel valued. Of course, that doesn’t mean you need to use every idea anyone comes up with. However, it does mean that top-down decisions without concern for how they impact employees are not a great way to keep people happy.
7. Buy lunch. No, it’s not the same as catered lunches. This is more of a “nice thing to do” rather than a company benefit. Everyone loves a free lunch, and if you have a small team, it’s easy to pull off. Just tell everyone at the beginning of a shift that you’re buying them lunch from Restaurant ABC, give them a menu, and have them tell you what they want.
8. Don’t micromanage. Hire good people, take steps in determining how to improve company culture, and sit back. You can still run inspections, of course. You can have tough conversations with people who aren’t doing their job well. But don’t stand over people watching their every move day in and day out.
9. Be open to feedback. Ask your team how it’s going. Ask if there’s anything you can do to make their job better. Ask them if they’re satisfied with your job performance. It’s unlikely anyone will do much more than laugh at first, but after a while, this can be a powerful tool and can offer you a lot of insight.
10. Fire problem clients. This might be the most challenging step to implement, but it’s one of the most significant steps you can take to improve company culture and improve your business. So who are these problem clients? They’re the ones you have to contact over and over to pay their invoice. They’re the ones who continually ignore the safety of your team. They’re the clients who frequently ask for more and are always looking for discounts. You may not run across them very often, but when you do, firing customers will give you the energy and time you need to bring in better clients.
Remember, even thinking about how to improve company culture is a step in the right direction. It means you’re thinking about the health of your business. And that’s always a good thing.
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