5 Ways Managers Can Shape Your Culture
Your company’s culture is more than a ping pong table in the breakroom or holiday parties. It’s your business’s values, how your employees treat each other, and what motivates your team. If your small business has managers, they can have a significant impact on your work environment. Keep reading to learn five ways they can shape your culture.
1. Their actions
Your managers set an example for your entire staff. Their actions and decisions should align with your company’s values to help shape the culture you want. They should believe in your company’s mission and live it out every day. Your employees will follow their lead and do the same.
2. Their decisions
Your company’s leaders have to make decisions every single day. Not every choice will be popular or initially make sense to your staff. If your managers are making decisions based on your mission, however, they should be comfortable explaining their choices to their direct reports. This will create transparency in your company, which everyone appreciates.
Read also: Make Better Decisions in 6 Easy Steps
3. Their conversations with employees
How your managers communicate with their teams can have a huge impact on your company’s culture. If a worker is behaving inappropriately, their boss should be able to have an open and honest conversation about it. Your supervisors should hold any potentially uncomfortable conversations in private, so team members aren’t embarrassed in front of their peers.
Read also: How to Have Difficult Conversations with Your Employees
4. Their reward system
Your managers can encourage your employees to live out your mission by rewarding them when they make a decision that aligns with the culture.
5. Their management style
Management styles will shape your culture. If you encourage innovation but have a leader who micromanages everything, you’re sending mixed signals. Each manager will have a unique management style, but that style should fit within your culture.
