Company Culture Is A Main Course On Your Learning Menu

Why Company Culture Is A Main Course On Your Learning Menu 

A good part of your employees have chosen to work at your company partially because of its culture. And for many of them it’s probably the main reason to stay. If that’s the case, you’re doing a pretty good job. Because this is one of those “money can’t buy” things, it’s almost a given that you spend a good amount of attention to it. Observe, listen, talk, and take action where needed.

Let your people know they truly matter, give them the opportunities they need to engage themselves and create an environment of trust. More motivation and dedication are just two of the gains a good company culture brings along.

3 Key Ways To Promote Your Company Culture

1. Inject your DNA into training.
   One way to promote your company culture is to display how your (potential) employee connects with the company. Show glimpses of it at job markets, emphasize it on applications, let them experience it for themselves the first day at work. Once they’re on board, one of the first things they’ll go through is some basic training. Many companies use very capable learning platforms to train their (and their partners’) employees, but they often overlook the fact that all training and coaching should ideally be drenched in their culture. Why you ask? Because it’s the best way to create a link between the company’s morals, values… and the employee’s part in it all. It’s not just about the job title, it’s about the valuable person that will help the company move forward in many ways. Education mixed with company culture is the best recipe to create a team of capable people that understand and help you to achieve your mission rather than a collective of individuals who come into work every day, do their job, and think only about their next paycheck.
2. Allow an open form of education.
   Before this kind of education was a thing, two main categories of training reigned supreme: Career-ladder training and skill training. The first kind is primarily based on job title and rank in the company hierarchy (analyst, manager, leader…). The second one focuses more on separate skill sets and abilities. (sales, accounting, graphic design…). Both make sense of course, but are by no means perfect.
   • Career-ladder training weaknesses. 
     In many smaller companies, there is no such thing as a clearly defined corporate ladder. And even if there is, what if you’re already “at the top” of your branch? There is no ivory tower though; there’s always something to learn, skill gaps to fill, and ways to develop yourself. From the very first day, offer employees the possibility to learn the things they feel a natural affinity with so they can improve themselves and the company as a whole. Doesn’t that sound better than just making it to the next step and see how it goes from there?
   • Skill training limitations. 
     The same goes for specific skill training. Aside from the fact that education in general should be personalized, it’s crucial that your team knows why they are learning a specific skill. From their first day on, show employees why they have to learn what they have to learn by connecting the training to their workflow. Then follow up with showing how their everyday progress and accomplishments connect to the company workflow and it’s DNA. They will feel much more involved and that will translate into motivation to improve themselves and learn what they need to know in order to go forward on their own as well as a company.
3. Inject training into your DNA.
   But to create the kind of company culture that exhales learning, it has to inhale it first. And that’s where your team comes into play. Driven employees won’t just experience the learning aspect of your company culture, they will add to it as well. They realize that training should be about building a comfort zone that revolves more about maximizing efficiency and motivation for their work (and their company) and less about training their skills separately. Their work ethic will promote the importance of personal development to the rest of the team. Colleagues will notice how they are much more at ease now that they are in this kind of environment and will naturally explore, share, and evaluate new (business) ideas with each other. They are also capable of constructing new training courses that convey the learning aspect of their company culture to newcomers.

When managed well, stimulating learning through your company culture can be one of your most important sources of competitive advantage. Because in a world of close competition, one of the most valuable things that can still differentiate you from the rest is not only the knowledge, but also the motivation and willingness to succeed of your team.

So get cooking and bring a lovely team to the table.