Work Culture: How to Increase Sales by 37%

What kind of culture are you cultivating for your employees?

Organizational culture can have a significant impact on employee productivity and motivation. Creating a positive work culture can lead to higher talent retention and employee satisfaction. Oftentimes, when morale is low, so are sales and productivity.

Without a sturdy foundation, a house won’t be able to withstand a simple storm. The same applies to the workplace environment you’re providing.

If you’re looking for a way to boost sales, commit to improving the foundation of your work culture.

What is a Work Culture?

Culture represents the overall actions and behaviors of a specific group of people. Workplace culture is a set of purpose and values that the employees of an organization believe and follow.

On its own, work culture may not seem as important as sales or reaching quotas. However, company culture directly correlates to the results your team can create.

It’s crucial that the beliefs and values of your business foster positivity and a sense of teamwork and belonging. Otherwise, no matter how great the talent, your business will never be able to reach its full sales potential.

What Impacts Workplace Culture?

So what exactly impacts the culture at work? Three main factors can either positively or negatively impact the company culture.

Employee Relations

Employee relations refers to the way your employees interact with each other. If your company culture doesn’t encourage employees to bond, it can be difficult to work effectively. Employees might feel alone instead of part of a team, especially in a remote work environment.

Collaboration: Another important aspect of employee relations is collaboration. How do you facilitate teamwork in the workplace? Delegating individual tasks based on skillset and role is always important. However, team tasks can help your employees connect and create a collaborative work environment.
Conflict Resolution: Empowering your employees with healthy ways to resolve conflict is crucial. Cultivate the type of corporate culture that welcomes positive confrontation. Don’t allow issues to go unresolved and breed tension among employees. Instead, encourage discussions surrounding uncomfortable situations to allow resolution and let your employees move forward.

Workplace Environment

The workplace environment includes the physical location, the trucks, and client’s homes. Workplace environments can impact an individual’s mood, performance and job satisfaction. Each person has different needs and preferences when it comes to their work environment.

Lighting is one of the main factors that can affect an employee. If the office isn’t well-lit, it may dampen the overall mood of the atmosphere. However, a well-lit workplace might foster productivity and joy overall.

Another important factor to consider is the ventilation and temperature. An office that sits at either extreme on the temperature scale might become uncomfortable to work through.

Noise levels are also another factor that could affect productivity. A noisy workplace could prevent some employees from being effective in their roles.

Taking each of these factors into account will allow you to establish a space that works for everyone.

Company policies

Company policies and values are the guiding principles that set the tone for the workplace. They dictate how employees should interact with each other and what behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable. Ensuring your guiding principles are solid and considering every employee’s needs will allow your work culture to flourish.

Happy Employees Matter

A toxic workplace environment negatively affects your employees. If your company culture is lacking the ability to minimize stress, your business suffers. Stressed employees mean decreased productivity and motivation, sacrificing sales.

A happy workplace is a productive workplace. To create a happy work environment, focus on what motivates a person. This includes providing adequate resources and training to do the job effectively, abandoning the use of fear, shame, and guilt as a means of getting what you want, and being genuine and specific with your praise, to name a few.

Take the time to discover what matters most to the individuals on your team. Ensuring every facet of your office culture sows positivity is the best way to keep your employees happy.

By creating a happy workplace, you will improve morale, productivity, and profitability.

Key Elements of a Positive Workplace Culture

Maintaining a positive workplace culture makes your employees feel appreciated. Employees who feel like they are working toward a common goal are more likely to be motivated and productive.

They are more likely to engage and go the extra mile to get the job done. Employees who feel like they are part of something tend to stick around. As a result, loyalty skyrockets and turnover decreases.

Creating a positive work culture requires effort from everyone in the company, from leaders to new hires. Leaders need to set the tone and be role models for productive and positive behavior. Any behavior that goes against guiding principles should be addressed and improved.

Celebrating successes and acknowledging milestones is a great way to boost the workplace culture and encourage hard work.

Below are five key elements of positive workplace culture.

Work Accountability

Fostering work accountability between your employees is one key element of a positive corporate culture. If you allow employees to submit work that produces negative results without accountability, your culture will suffer.

How do you make sure every employee stays accountable?

You can start by setting standards and expectations for the work your employees complete. Standards provide a clear baseline and goal to strive toward, no matter what the project entails.

When employees the standards they’re required to meet, they are more likely to be held accountable—and deliver great results.

Without training wheels, it’s nearly impossible to learn how to ride a bike. Balance and coordination are important in developing that skill before four wheels turn into two.

As a business owner, it is your responsibility to provide support. Be that as it may, it’s important to allow employees the opportunity to learn and grow. Providing resources is a great way to empower employees in their roles.

Finally, you can create a culture of accountability by demonstrating it yourself. As a leader, you must be willing to take responsibility for your actions and own your mistakes. Embracing honesty in this way and establishing solutions in every situation will set the tone for a positive work environment.

Equity and Equality

The second key element to producing a positive work environment is establishing equity and equality standards.

Equity fosters the type of corporate culture where every employee gets the support they need. Equality, on the other hand, is an environment in which employees all are treated fairly and get the same support.

So which should you put emphasis on?

Every business is different. Merging both principals into a baseline that meets the specific needs of your business is crucial.

Establishing equity in the workplace can prove to be widely beneficial to your office culture. Offering support that is catered to every individual leaves the employee feeling valued. Equity also improves job satisfaction and motivates employees in their roles.

Lastly, setting an equity standard can attract top talent to your organization.

Equality, on the other, is another critical factor in creating a positive workplace. If employees feel they’re being treated fairly, they’re more likely to feel job satisfaction. In return, equality reduces turnover rates.

When employees feel like they’re being treated unfairly, they’re likely to leave their job.

Achieving equality in the workplace can be challenging, but there are multiple ways to promote it. Establish clear policies surrounding equality that prohibit discrimination and harrassment. Provide training on these policies periodically so that every employee is aware of the positive behavior your work environment promotes.

Equality ensures not one person or group of employees receives special treatment over others. However, equality in the workplace concerning support in a specific role yields a different result. For example, if everyone is given the same support or training, it may help some more than others.

Keep in mind that not everyone learns the same way or has the same skillset. For example, assess the performance of your employees. If there’s a pattern of different results, it could mean training needs to be personalized.

Combining equity and equality into your workplace culture will promote a positive environment. Providing each employee with the support they need while ensuring everyone is treated fairly is the ultimate goal.

Expression

Encouraging employees to freely express their ideas and concerns is essential to creating a positive work environment. If employees don’t feel comfortable expressing their thoughts, it could breed tension in the workplace and create a toxic environment.

Expression allows employees to feel comfortable communicating and builds trust within the team. It also encourages creativity and lets employees express themselves without judgment.

A work culture that promotes expression also increases retention rates and attracts top talent. Customers will also have a positive perception of the company if they see employees are free to be themselves. It can also reduce stress among employees.

Open Communication

Open communication goes hand-in-hand with expression and is essential for creating a positive business culture. Encourage regular feedback between managers and employees. Allow your employees to communicate freely with you and their colleagues. Employee resource groups (ERGs) can also provide a safe space for employees to share their thoughts and experiences, and can help to foster a more inclusive and equitable workplace.

There are multiple ways to foster open communication in your office culture.

Follow up: Make a habit of following up and checking in with your employees often. Create a weekly or monthly reflection system that allows you to check the pulse of your employees. Knowing how each person is feeling will empower you to meet each individual’s needs and improve culture.
Foster community: Host quarterly events that encourage the entire team to get involved. This will increase the sense of belonging among employees and build community and trust. Taking the initiative to get to know your team outside of office hours will boost morale and increase loyalty.
Open door policy: Giving your employees an open door policy with leadership will build trust within the team. Employees will feel comfortable discussing any problems they face with you. As a result, you’ll be able to put out any fires before they spread.

Proper Recognition

Finally, giving employees the proper recognition for their accomplishments creates positivity. Recognition and appreciation motivate employees to do a better job.

First, it helps employees feel appreciated for their hard work. This appreciation can motivate them to continue producing quality results. It also positively increases employee engagement and company loyalty.

Additionally, recognition can help employees build positive relationships with their managers. Overall, positive acknowledgment of achievements boosts morale and fosters a positive company culture.

Importance of Promoting Positive Work Culture

Promoting a positive work culture and implementing it sets your business apart from the rest. A positive culture is also a critical recruitment tool. Top talent wants to be part of an innovative workplace where they feel like their voices are heard.

It’s been statistically proven that positive culture increases productivity, employee loyalty, engagement, sales and customer satisfaction.

The numbers don’t lie:

88% of job-seekers cite culture as being important to them.
Millennials are twenty-two TIMES more likely to work for a business that promotes a high-trust culture.
58% of employees are ready to bounce due to negative work culture.
42% of employees feel unnoticed when they achieve a workplace goal.
Happy employees increase sales by 37%.
Happy employees are 20% more productive than unhappy ones.
To succeed and grow as a business, you must, MUST focus on employee happiness.

Conclusion

Cultivating a positive organization culture is essential to every business’ success. This begins with setting the tone at the top.

Leaders need to role-model the desired behavior and hold everyone accountable to the standards set. It’s also important to empower employees and give them the autonomy to do their jobs. Trust is key in any relationship, especially the employer-employee relationship.

When you have happy employees, it creates a domino effect of positivity throughout the entire company. The foundation your business is built upon influences every other aspect, including the health of your team.

So what steps can you take to improve your work culture today?

Meet each individual where they are, but treat everyone equally.
Inspire open expression and communication between employees and management.
Place value on accomplishments to increase productivity and motivation.

By committing to improving your company culture, you’ll see a positive impact on your company as a whole.

Wizard of Sales® is prepared to guide you every step of the way in elevating your home services business! If you’re ready to build an unbreakable business foundation, contact our expert team today!