SMARTMOVES [ INSIGHT ]
by Lindsey Graves CEO, Sunset Transportation lgraves@sunsettrans.com | 800-849-6540
How to Nurture Company Culture
Company culture is the heartbeat of an organization. It’s the collective mindset, values, and behaviors that define who we are and how we operate. A strong, positive culture is not just a nice-to-have, but a must-have for any company aiming for sustained success. Employees are not looking for ping
Create a culture that has meaning. Having a culture that your people have a connection with is directly tied to professional and personal satisfaction. Employee recognition programs are a strategic way to promote your core values and can influence key business metrics such as profitability, productivity, and even customer satisfaction. Core value programs also allow employees to nominate team members each month for demonstrating core values. Within our nomination process, we select one winner for each core value to receive pins and recognition for their service. Any employee who receives all five core value pins also wins a cash award. Great culture also means inclusivity and opportunities to give back. A dedicated culture club with representatives from across the company can help ensure everyone’s interests are represented and keep the staff engaged. Providing employees paid time off specifically for volunteering in their communities also has direct links to employee engagement and better morale. Attracting great talent is an achievement, but keeping them is the best testament to your culture. Through commitment to core values, celebrating the successes of team members, and fostering inclusivity, your organization can create an engaged, responsive employee culture. n
can achieve, and creating a roadmap for how they can get there can make all the difference. There are a few ways we’re doing this in our organization: • Our team has put together an online library of tools for continued learning to keep employees engaged. • We create an annual curriculum for every leadership level across various business areas and host quarterly sessions for learning and development. • We’re piloting “knowledge checks” for employees across different business areas. The knowledge checks are a 300-question test we developed, but each employee is given 80, randomly selected questions to answer. This will enable us to show customers that our team members have all the skills we’ve determined are critical to how they perform their roles. The individual employee results can also be used to even further develop their career maps. If someone wants to advance to the next level, we’ll be able to understand if there is skill that needs a bit more development to get them there, or if their skills are already exceeding the expectations for their current role.
pong tables in the lounge; they’re looking for a place where they have flexibility, supportive coworkers and leadership, opportunities for professional growth and career development, and occasionally can have a little fun. Embed culture within your hiring process. It can often be challenging to determine whether a candidate will be a cultural fit—but it doesn’t have to be. When we make someone an offer, it’s because we want to invest in them for their entire career. We also place high value on personalizing the onboarding experience to make sure that each new onboarding, a dedicated training team monitors the progress of each new hire, evaluating if they’ve developed the skills they should have for their respective roles within 30, 60, and 90 days. This helps identify any areas where reskilling or upskilling is necessary. hire feels like they belong here. Foster career progression and professional growth. Following But that isn’t where professional development should end. Showing employees where they are, what they
24 Inbound Logistics • December 2024
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