5 simple steps to achieve great culture that attracts the best workers, increases overall retention, improves performance, and lowers costs.

Editor’s note: This is part two of a two part series. Part one is entitled Pssst, It’s Your Culture! New Ways to Improve Company Culture

Part two starts with the recommendations to achieve compnay culture.

Five Steps to Improve Your Company Culture

1.   Make a commitment to your own self-awareness.

One of the things that is often left out in the plans for addressing company culture is what the CEO can do to themselves for themselves to be part of the process of change.

Some do hire coaches to help them be better, kinder bosses, but if you don’t listen to what the person you are paying to tell you the truth says, it is simply a wasted effort. And get this, if you are not the embodiment of being the top culture builder, no one, no matter how much you pay them will believe you really want good vibes and values to run in your place of business.

It all starts with you.

So own it!

2.   Be authentic to all, transparent with some.

Part of being a great culture builder is that you are who you say you are; meaning if you say you care about family values that shows in your company handbook; if you say people matter no matter what positions they hold, you treat the janitor with as much respect as you treat your right hand person in the company.

Authenticity rules culture building. But know that you don’t have to be transparent with everyone.

Sharing how different it is for you to change, how you hate that you even have to change is something you should only share with your most trusted advisors in the company. You’ll be surprised how that information travels around the company. But you can share how the market has impacted your company instead of making believe that all is well.

You can share how you will have to make some major adjustments in the future instead of lying that “all positions are safe” then the next month people are laid off.

Being authentic builds trust. Trust is truly the foundation of a great company culture. This is primarily a mental, rather than a logistical shift.

Instead of asking ‘is it absolutely necessary to share this?’ ask ‘is it absolutely necessary to conceal this?’ It’s that easy.

3.   Reward Culture Builders.

Did you know that companies that have a recognition-rich culture also tend to have dramatically lower turnover rates?

In an excellent article written for Forbes, Josh Bersin shared some astounding statistics, namely that the top 20 percent of companies with a recognition-rich culture have a 31 percent lower turnover rate. How much would a 31 percent reduction in your turnover rate save your company?

For the record, note that employee recognition doesn’t have to come exclusively from the top as has been the tradition.

It’s often even more impactful when recognition comes from the people all around them. A 360 degree approach.

Peer-to-peer is the most effective method of infusing recognition into your culture.

It’s also a great way to organically build stronger relationships between coworkers — which is the next step towards building an outstanding company culture.

Next- Build Stronger Co-Worker Relationships and Give Feedback. Fast and Often