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When a company has been in business as long as Movéo, you have to assume we’re doing something right. Movéo has a long-standing reputation for valuing its employees, and tenure on the team is evidence of that. Over 25% of Movéo’s employees have been with the firm for more than 10 years!
After 26 years of seamless, fun and natural culture, Movéo has recently formalized a committee designed to protect, promote, and enhance one of the most important assets the agency owns — its culture.
The Culture Committee is made up of five employees from various departments within the agency:
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Sandra Tracy, Human Resources Manager (management liaison)
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Stephanie Hides, Resource Manager (spokesperson)
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Angela Kayat, Director of Consulting & Engagement (management team liaison and wellness coordinator for Chicago office)
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Ben Coffee, Digital Media Manager (wellness coordinator for Oakbrook Terrace office)
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Stephen Foy, Brand Strategist (charity coordinator)
The committee meets bi-weekly to discuss upcoming events and activities, current hot topics within the agency, and ideas for new and exciting culture initiatives.
Already underway, Movéo’s first formalized healthy potluck is taking place this July. The dishes are required to be either low calorie, low fat, low carb or gluten-free. During the event, employees will have the opportunity to share recipes while discussing health and wellness tips.
Also in the works is planning for Movéo’s annual summer event. This year, the committee opened up voting to the staff and the clear winner was a day of fun at Arlington Race Track. Activities will take place Friday, August 15th in one of the race track’s luxurious suites with open bar and food. Employees will be allowed to bet on their favorite horses while socializing with co-workers from inside the air-conditioned suite. There will even be prizes awarded for the best dressed!
Additionally, the Culture Committee recently launched and employee survey in an effort to gauge employee satisfaction and gather candid insights. The results of the survey will be shared with the firm with a corresponding action plan that addresses any “issues” that may surface while also sharing the positive feedback.
There has been interest amongst other members of the staff to join the committee and so, soon to come will be a rotating membership where other employees take turns sitting in on meetings, bringing their ideas and suggestions to the committee and getting their voices heard.
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This month on the blog, we’ve focused entirely on internal investment. The reality is, positive company culture is key to building a strong team, and professional development doesn’t take as much time or money as many people think. Both reap bottom-line rewards for your business, so they’re worth the extra planning and dedication required. Your employees will find work more rewarding on a daily basis, and their happiness, productivity and quality of work will prove it.
The same perks won’t work at every company, so it’s important to find a few things that align with your internal brand and resonate with your team members and stick to them. Once you’ve established goals and action steps, commit to positive culture and have a little fun! Today, we’re sharing four of our favorite examples of positive company culture from around the web.
Company culture insight:
This post shares five great tips for shaping the culture at a startup, but they apply to anyone. Our favorite? Teamwork trumps talent alone.
This article includes four challenges executives face as they attempt to combine leadership and culture and shape a culture that serves everyone.
This post features five companies who are leading the way when it comes to internal culture. Moz, Zappos and Buffer all offer unique perks that might inspire you to adopt some of your own.
Here you’ll find some alarming statistics about the perception of company culture, and some tips for intentionally building one of your own.
What are you doing to build a positive culture at your company?
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Though we’ve focused largely on outside-the-box professional development ideas in our series in investing within this month, internal investment doesn’t begin and end there. Developing a positive, enriching company culture is another key piece of the puzzle. Company culture is defined by intangibles, and employee perks are one contributing factor. There are a variety of ways to offer benefits, and some of them are more unconventional than others. Health insurance and retirement funds are expected, but fun perks have become increasingly common. They differ at every company, but in many cases, they’ve become a key selling point for potential employees and top talent. Those things define what it’s like to be an employee on a day-to-day basis, and over time, they help define internal culture and create a positive place for people to spend the majority of their waking hours.
Be Different
While traditional benefits are still valued, companies who offer unconventional perks get a lot of attention. Some allow telecommuting or flexible schedules, and others have creativity rooms, relaxed wardrobe expectations or free snacks and drinks. Many others offer health and wellness assistance, like Buffer, who provides each employee with a Jawbone UP. Little things make a surprising difference. Chances are, you can find ways to add a little fun to employees’ lives, even if resources are limited. Making Friday a jeans day or allowing long lunches during the US World Cup game are small examples. Don’t be afraid to get creative!
At Movéo
At Movéo, we’ve recently formed a new Culture Committee to help identify what employees want and how we can improve their daily lives. The group organizes events and outings like our recent Cinco de Mayo gathering, establishes and upholds traditions and collects employee suggestions for improving communication and collaboration. So far, it’s been a great success.
This week, why not brainstorm small perks that your company can add to daily life? Choose things that fit your own internal brand, and don’t be afraid to have fun while you’re at it.
Your employees will thank you.
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This month, we’ve been sharing ways to improve company culture through outside-the-box professional development. The value of mentorship has come up more than once, and today we want to explore it a little further. Your company’s mentorship initiatives might be structured programs, like our onboarding process, or they might be a casual part of the culture. Either way, the themes of mentor-mentee relationships are the same.
If your company lacks internal mentorship, there are some ways to encourage it. You might consider officially matching senior leaders to newer employees when they begin, or you might simply make it known that such relationships are a valuable, recommended part of company culture. If you choose the latter, consider hosting an after-work event to get conversations started between people who don’t usually interact. Things like round-robin information gathering games help the less experienced step out of their comfort zones to connect with company leaders.
No matter what approach to mentorship works at your company, it’s wise to recommend that the matches set clearly defined goals and approach the relationship methodically. That way, the person with more experience can help their mentee find solutions to problems they’re facing and actively grow.
Here are four areas mentors and their mentees should explore:
1. Technical Skills Development
Company experts are the perfect people to pass along technical skills relevant to your industry that they’ve had years to develop. Mentees should develop specific questions and identify weaknesses to seek help.
2. Leadership Skills Development
The mentors at your company are most likely natural leaders of some sort. Encourage mentees to talk to them to explore what leadership means and develop those qualities in themselves.
3. Place to Confide
Mentors can be great confidants. If the relationship takes off, inexperienced employees are given a safe place to discuss workplace issues and career plans. At work, that trust is valuable.
4. Life/Career Advice
Whatever life or career questions a mentee is asking, chances are the mentor has asked them before. Encourage these relationships at your company, to provide a personal sort of professional development employees can’t get anywhere else.
How does mentorship work at your company?
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An important part of positive internal culture is making learning part of your brand, as we discussed Monday. As a tool, we suggested that companies frame failure as a positive thing. Sound crazy? It shouldn’t. Most employees live in fear of mistakes, when really, they should be celebrated as learning opportunities. But when everyone is concerned with being criticized, viewed as subpar, or worse, getting fired, it’s hard to permeate your culture with the understanding that mistakes are okay–and maybe even encouraged.
Many understand the value of a workplace that embraces failure in theory, but putting it into practice is difficult, especially in the heat of the moment. Sometimes, it requires a complete shift in management style. Finger pointing and blame have no place. Instead, cultures that make the most of mistakes rely on open dialogue, encouragement and commitment to improvement. Today, we’re outlining a four-step practice that, with some dedication, will help your company become one that sees failure as opportunity and encourages employees to take smart risks:
1. Post-Project Recaps
Instead of rushing headfirst into the next thing when a project is completed, hold a debrief meeting. Use it to give everyone on the team a chance to voice their opinion on how things went and what areas need improvement. If you don’t recap and asses, you’re likely to make the same mistakes over and over again, so this process is invaluable to business impact and success.
2. Catalogue Opportunities for Growth
Take note of the areas for improvement that come up in your recap. Document them, along with related successes. Don’t just voice and forget about them, but write them down and encourage your team with reminders that there will always be things that need work. Noting them is simply a step towards self and group-improvement.
3. Brainstorm Solutions
This is the fun step. Together as a team, brainstorm solutions for the issues that came up. Think of better ways to work, more helpful tools to use and communication methods that increase productivity and efficiency. Take note of these ideas and choose 2-3 to put into action on the next project.
4. Develop Accountability
As your team looks forward to the next initiative and plans steps for improvement, develop an accountability system for check-ins before the next recap meeting. It could be as simple as a group email where everyone weighs in on their progress, or updates posted on an internal Facebook group or social network. This encourages employees to keep striving for excellence, and to learn from mistakes along the way.
Does your company view failure as an opportunity for growth?
Image via (cc) Sarah Stierch
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This month, we’re decoding internal investment and professional development. Most people agree that they are both pillars of positive company culture, but they’re often neglected. The good news is that if you think outside the box, they actually require less time and money than people think. In fact, one of the best things employers can do is provide realistic support of their team’s future career development, even if the path isn’t internal. Moral support is certainly affordable, and over the long term, it keeps employees loyal even if they leave your company. Who knows, they might even be inspired to return for a leadership role later in life.
Be a Modern Company
Many companies help employees create Professional Development Plans, but it’s rare for this plan to recognize the reality that most employees’ career trajectory will involve an eventual move to another employer. Instead, Professional Development Plans often become self-serving, leaving employees who want to look beyond company walls feeling cut off from opportunities. Smart companies invest in staff development that will benefit their company in the present with the understanding that it may not result in long-term devotion. This indicates a modern company who’s able to adapt, because unlike days past, it’s rare for anyone today to choose one employer and dedicate a lifetime to them.
Adjust to the Current Landscape
The post-recession employment landscape has changed. Professionals are required to be nimble and prepared for anything, and employers should follow suit. Your professional development initiatives should focus on each employee’s personal improvement, helping prepare them for the future, even if it’s not guaranteed to be with your company. As we discussed Monday, making learning part of your internal brand works wonders for productivity and business impact. Mentorship is another way to unselfishly invest in your team’s growth, and the perfect way to establish that frank discussions about career growth–at your company or beyond–are welcomed and even encouraged. The best leaders help their team grow, even if it doesn’t directly serve their business.
Are you supporting your team’s personal growth and career goals?
Image via (cc) Jetstar Airways
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Earlier this year, Get There featured a series on internal branding. A company’s internal brand can be thought of as many things–company culture and employment brand are two examples, and some companies have even coined their own term. Whatever you call it, there’s no denying that internal brand strength is essential to a thriving business. It encapsulates what it actually feels like to work for a company day in and day out and makes employees happier. It’s worth the investment of time and money, because when employees enjoy their workplace, productivity and work quality soar.
As we consider internal investment and outside-the-box professional development this month, we can’t help but think of how it relates to branding. As we thought of the place where internal and professional development merge, we realized that this is key: make learning part of your internal brand. If you’re serious about cultivating your best asset, your people, inspire your team by encouraging educational opportunities and giving them fun opportunities to learn together.
Here are three ways to make it happen:
1. Host learning sessions.
As we shared earlier this month, Movéo hosts Crave Sessions over lunch that we love. They’re meant to promote knowledge sharing on new innovations, agency offerings and industry trends. We learn about the latest tools, and best of all, we do it together. It’s a great opportunity to benefit from the expertise of our colleagues, and we highly recommend it.
2. Ask executives to lead by example.
One great way to demonstrate that your company prioritizes learning is to ask company executives to lead by example. If resident leaders make the effort to attend internal learning sessions and mini-conferences, it will be clear to the entire staff that learning breaks are not just encouraged, but valued. Most habits that start at the top trickle down to every corner of the company.
3. Embrace failure.
Cultures that embrace mistakes and failure as learning opportunities set themselves up for success. When employees aren’t afraid of negative reactions in response to failure, they’re inspired to think bigger and try harder. Make your company culture one that views mistakes as opportunities to grow. When failure happens, take a second look at what went wrong and find areas to improve.
Taking time for growth is key to positive company culture. Is learning part of your internal brand?
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To continue this month’s exploration of internal investment, we’re here to discuss something that a lot of people value but few take time for: mentorship. As we said last Wednesday, it’s often difficult for busy executives to find the time to mentor others who have less experience. With pressing business issues and sales goals at hand, mentorship can begin to seem less worthwhile and more like a feel-good idea with no true benefit.
As much as another commitment sounds like a burden, the truth is that mentorship serves more than just fresh-faced young employees and college graduates. It helps your business thrive at its core. We do our best to encourage these relationships at Moveo by matching every new employee to a mentor. We’ve found that it’s critical for this to happen at the onset of employment to spark the most value. It gives new team members a place to go with questions, no matter how small, and the relationships often continue long after an employee’s first day. Even better, making mentorship part of our culture has provided added benefits that we never anticipated.
Here are four ways mentorship helps your business thrive at the core:
1. Decision-Making & Strategy Are Unified
When seasoned employees share their experience with new team members, it helps get everyone thinking on the same page. Inexperienced people can learn what’s worked and what hasn’t and make decisions that are aligned with higher level executives. It leaves newbies equipped to make smart moves right away. At the same time, the experts are encouraged to approach decisions with fresh eyes.
2. Teachers Are Inspired to Learn
There’s a funny thing about teaching–it often inspires the expert to learn, which further strengthens the company. Teachers find themselves wanting to continue their own growth and discovery as they help others do the same.
3. Retention is Encouraged
We’ve been saying it all month, but making internal growth and professional development part of your culture is a great way to encourage retention. People who know they’re valued do better work and stick around longer, making the most of your investment in them.
4. Maximizes Expertise
Encouraging internal learning and mentorship maximizes the investment your company has made in its leaders. It capitalizes on what long-term employees have learned along the way and extends the value of each person’s professional development and experience.
Does your company practice mentorship? If so, have you noticed higher work quality or morale?
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Igniting leadership at your company often feels easier said than done. Busy executives have growth on their minds, and it’s not uncommon for professional development to take a backseat. On Monday, we discussed the importance of internal investment and shared three ways to inspire organic leadership development for your team.
Leadership cultivation for your employees shouldn’t be a gift they’re awarded after two, five or even ten years with the company. Instead, invest in their leadership capabilities from day one. Staff members should know, from their first day, that they are valued and that their growth is a priority. Committing to professional development as part of your culture, rather than a once or twice a year perk, has benefits that will make your company more successful over the long run.
By preparing the leaders of the future, you pave the way to eventually leave the company in good hands. You also enable your team to do better work in the present by encouraging them to explore leadership potential. They will all discover their own strengths and styles, but along with those, they’ll find better ways to complement one another and strengthen the team. Putting extra effort into employees–even the new ones–reaps big rewards for business impact.
Here are four ways to help new employees develop their potential:
1. Trust them with big projects.
New or less experienced employees often grow the fastest when they’re put in a “sink or swim” situation. When trusted to lead a project, often they’ll rise to the occasion, sometimes bringing even more energy to their work than seasoned team members. It helps to match these employees to a mentor who can guide the project when questions arise.
2. Teach them how to network.
Networking shouldn’t be a dirty word. Help young employees learn the right way to do it by encouraging them to get to know others in the company who can advise or inspire them towards success.
3. Encourage them to solve problems on their own.
When an inexperienced employee comes to you for answers, help them discover a solution of their own rather than doing it for them. This doesn’t mean they’re left to their own devices–instead, a leader should ask questions and share his or her own experience to get them thinking in the right direction.
4. Allow them to take ownership.
When trusting new employees with big projects, many managers learn that it’s wise to let team members take ownerships of projects that are aligned with their special skills or interests. This encourages self-teaching and more happiness in the workplace, two things that often lead to productivity and retention.
How does your company support the growth of new employees?
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This month, we’re focused on investing within. Internal culture and professional development are essential to a company’s health, though it can be hard to make them a priority amidst external goals. The good news is that it’s not always as expensive or time-consuming as many think. Last week, we discussed the importance of thought leadership and how to cultivate it among your employees. This week, we’re sharing how to empower internal leaders and give them the tools they need to succeed.
Many managers wonder how to empower their staff. Does it require expensive trips to conferences, education stipends or big bonuses? While those are certainly great incentives, sometimes simpler methods are just as effective. Igniting leadership on your team should feel natural, enjoyable and never forced.
Here are three ways to organically inspire employees to lead:
1. Encourage Collaboration
As you manage projects for your company, implement small team-based approaches. When planning and execution are approached collaboratively, natural leaders can emerge while learning alongside their superiors. This approach also inspires healthy leadership styles, since teammates tend to treat one another as equals and value everyone’s contributions.
2. Start an Internal Mentorship Program
Movéo has an internal mentorship program that’s part of our onboarding process, and we highly recommend it. It’s important to begin these relationships immediately at the onset of employment, as they guide new team members through the confusion of starting a new role. With a mentor, new employees always know where to go with questions and how to gain insider knowledge about the company. They’ll feel welcomed and comfortable and learn how things operate more quickly, thanks to their internal guide.
3. Involve New Team Members in High-Level Conversations
When it comes to high-level strategy and product development conversations, newer or less experienced employees shouldn’t be excluded. Including diverse team members in these discussions has many benefits. It gives natural leaders the chance to develop their voices and skill sets, and it gives company initiatives the benefit of fresh perspective.
What has proven successful in igniting leadership at your company?
Image via (cc) Norman Lear Center
