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Building a Better Business – Part 6

your business, changing lives

Image of a happy workplace team

In a series of short articles we’ll look at what it takes to grow your business.

Part Six

Be a better leader; build a strong workplace culture

Being a better leader and building a strong workplace culture is crucial to having a better business.

Have you ever considered the state of your workplace ? What do I mean ?

Well, is your workplace a happy and enjoyable place to be or is it toxic in any way ? Naturallu, with the average person spending more than 40,000 hours of their life at work, a workplace should be an enjoyable place to be.

We all have bad days, but if the following bells ring… your workplace may be toxic.

1. A lack of trust between owners and the team.
Is there a sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’? Everyone should feel part of the team.

2. No Core Values.
Or, worse still, Core Values which aren’t being lived into.

If you don’t have any core values get in touch and we can explore with you how to put them in place with the support of your team. Even if it is only you I would recommend you set out your core values as this really helps you to focus on what is important.

3. After meeting meetings.
Those chats after a meeting where team members go on to discuss the meeting or criticise decisions made.

4. Highly stressful interactions.
Disagreements will happen from time to time, but these should be the exception, not the norm.

5. Team members and owners mistreating each other.
They may be working in self-serving ways rather than benefiting the team and business.

6. No team buy-in to the core purpose or the business’s goals.
Or, an absence of purpose or goals completely.

To create a stronger and happier workplace culture, consider the following points:

  1. Develop your Core Values, with help from your team. We can help you with this.
  2. Define your purpose; why you exist for your customers – and make it clear to your team how their roles deliver on your purpose.
  3. Make your Core Values and purpose highly visible so your team know them and hold each other accountable to living into them.
  4. Set annual and 90 day goals for each team member so that the sum of the individuals’ goals can deliver on your overall Business Plan.
  5. Celebrate success and recognise team members for great performance.
  6. Meet regularly with the team and give everyone the chance to be heard.
  7. Avoid being held ransom by toxic employees by showing them the ‘door of opportunity’.

A toxic culture will inhibit the success of your business. Take an honest look at your culture and make changes to help build a strong workplace culture.

Need help developing your Core Values or your purpose? Get in touch and we can explore how we can support you with this.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker

In the next part, part seven we will look at how getting someone independent to hold you to account will improve your focus and drive you more quickly towards fulfilling your planned growth.