Change can present itself in many ways through your organisation, though one of the best ways is through growth. But while growth is often an exciting and positive experience in business, it isn’t without its risks.
Having to expand, bring on new people, service new sales and update processes in often quite short timeframes, can send your organisation into a spin with your culture being the first area affected by it. Knowing how important culture is to the productivity, performance and profitability of your business, here are seven tips to help you keep your culture through growth.
1. Maintain high hiring standards
When you grow quickly, there is pressure to hire quickly. But an “anyone is better than no one” approach to hiring can quickly result in a drop in quality and performance not to mention culture. No matter how desperate your need may be, maintain the same high hiring standards you have always had. While it may take a little longer to find the right person, you will prevent more challenging issues later.
2. Take the time to praise
During periods of high growth, you can easily become distracted by the operational day-to-day and forget to celebrate your wins and praise your team for their efforts and accomplishments. This simple act of validation can have a huge impact on team morale, productivity and satisfaction.
3. Maintain open communication
Like any period of change, communication can often be stifled due to your workload, organisational inefficiencies and a lack of time. But open communication is crucial to maintaining your company culture.
Keeping a direct line of communication where employees can be free to ask questions, share ideas, voice opinions and play an active part in problem-solving will ensure your organisation grows as a team and not as a group of individuals serving there own interests.
4. Keep your vision and values front of mind
Speaking of open communication, it is also important to visit your vision and values with your team regularly. This ensures any snap decisions made by you or the team to facilitate your growth has the big picture in mind.
5. Identify leaders and train them
Leaders often present themselves in periods of change and adversity. As you are growing, actively look for the staff that are stepping up and showing initiative. They won’t always be the ones out in front or making lots of noise; they are often the quiet achievers that are happy to share the win with everyone else.
If you need some additional help in identifying leaders here is a post we did on How to Identify the Next Generation of Leaders.
6.Invest in team building
The success of your organisation depends on the ability of your team to be productive, collaborative and unified. For that to happen, you need to build trust and rapport within your team.
But what most leaders forget or refuse to acknowledge is that team building happens more outside of the office than within it. Social events where people get to know each other and build relationships are an excellent way to keep a positive culture in the workplace. They are also a great way to ease some of the stress that comes with high growth!
7. Get support
When staff are thrown into a fast-paced, changing environment and are expected to take up new or more diversified roles, there is always an adjustment period. From dealing with their own self-doubt to having to learn new skills and processes, they can often be too overwhelmed and under equipped to rise to the challenge.
By ensuring you have the right onboarding process, and that your team have access to right training, development and career coaching opportunities you can get them up to speed faster, minimising their mistakes and increasing their productivity.
Need help keeping your culture through growth? Call the Turning Point Partners team today on 1300 27 83 45.
