What is Company Culture? 10 Expert Tips for Creating a Strong Culture

Every business has a distinct workplace atmosphere or company culture. Understanding this invisible force that guides your teams is crucial for improving employee retention and productivity. It can be a key factor in your company's long-term success. But what is company culture, and how does it shape everything, from daily decisions to business strategy? Let's explore the importance of company culture and discover how to create a positive work environment.

Which Factors Contribute to Company Culture?

Company culture is a shared set of values, beliefs, behaviors, and norms that determine how your employees work together. It goes beyond a mission statement or the vibe in your office and typically develops over time. Here are some key components that contribute to a strong company culture:

• Clear Values: The principles that guide your employees' behavior and priorities.

• Consistent Leadership: Employees who model the culture and hold others accountable to it.

• Open Communication: Transparent, respectful dialogue across all levels of the organization.

• Sense of Belonging: An inclusive environment where employees feel valued.

• Aligned Expectations: Everyone understands their responsibilities and what success looks like.

• Recognition and Celebration: Regular acknowledgement of individual and team contributions.

• Accountability and Feedback: Honest conversations that support growth and performance.

• Adaptability: Willingness to evolve as the business and team needs shift.

Why Company Culture Matters for Success

Company culture often determines how your team communicates and makes decisions. It’s a powerful driver of employee satisfaction and business performance. When employees feel connected, they’re more motivated and likely to stay. A strong culture also brings clarity about expectations. This clarity can reduce confusion and friction, ultimately improving your employee experience.

10 Expert Tips for Building a Strong Company Culture

Building company culture takes time, but you can support the process by developing a strategy. Introduce consistent behaviors and intentional systems that reinforce your values. Here are 10 tips for building or improving company culture:

1. Define Culture in Behavioral Terms

Values such as integrity or collaboration sound nice, but employees need to know what they look like in practice. Show them with behavior-based examples. For instance, if integrity is a core value, it could mean taking responsibility for mistakes or being honest about timelines.

2. Rethink Your Onboarding Process

First impressions set the tone. Use the onboarding process to immerse new hires in your company culture through storytelling and personal connection.

3. Embrace Micro-cultures

Your company culture develops in all your teams, regardless of size. Give managers the tools and autonomy to reinforce values in ways that make sense for their team dynamic.

4. Make Feedback a Daily Ritual

Build a culture of continuous feedback. Encourage employee recognition and real-time coaching, not just formal annual reviews.

5. Audit Your Systems for Cultural Alignment

Make sure your performance metrics reward the behaviors you want. Adapt your systems to avoid sending mixed signals.

6. Celebrate Process Wins

Many companies only reward results. But when you celebrate how your employees achieve goals and their creative thinking, you reinforce culture through action.

7. Share Meaningful Moments

Create opportunities for employees to reflect on the impact of their work, such as through customer stories or mission-driven projects. Highlight the impact of their work through team rituals and communication.

8. Involve Employees

Don’t treat company culture as a leadership-only initiative. Create cross-functional culture committees and run feedback campaigns to pilot new ideas from employees themselves.

9. Normalize Vulnerability

Strong leaders admit mistakes and ask for input. Encouraging open discussions about challenges fosters psychological safety and lays the foundation for a thriving culture.

10. Create an Inclusive Workplace

Make space for different voices and perspectives. When employees feel like they belong, they're more engaged and committed. Inclusivity helps you build a company where everyone has a chance to thrive and contribute.

How to Improve Your Company Culture Over Time

Improving company culture is an ongoing practice. As your business grows, your culture evolves naturally. The key is to stay intentional and consistent. Start by collecting feedback through surveys and one-on-one check-ins.

You can also gather valuable insights through exit interview questions. Look for patterns and use the data to adjust your policies and communication style. You can be open about the challenges you encounter, since transparency helps to build trust.

Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Company Culture

Look beyond annual surveys and tune into patterns: Are high performers modeling your values? Do people feel comfortable speaking up? Who’s getting promoted or quietly leaving? If you have access to top HR success metrics, consider analyzing:

• Turnover trends

• Internal mobility and promotion rates

• Manager effectiveness scores

• Pulse survey participation and sentiment

• Exit interview feedback

Pair the data with honest conversations and ask follow-up questions. The most telling sign of a healthy culture is when your employees say they feel seen and valued.

Improving Your Company Culture With Justworks

Building company culture requires time and insight. Justworks' Professional Employer Organization (PEO) gives you the tools to understand what's going on behind the scenes. Make the most of HR analytics, efficient onboarding, dependable payroll, and accessible benefits to foster a positive workplace atmosphere and help your employees flourish. Get started with Justworks today.