Is Your Company Culture Bad or Good?
You’d be surprised how many companies out there have no idea whether their company culture is a healthy culture or not. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to you. Here are some signs to look out for when figuring out how your company ranks.
Signs of a good company culture within leading manufacturing companies
- High retention rate
- Continued development of employees
- Good working relationships
- Good employee benefits
- Open door communication
- Growth mindset
- Trust and integrity
- Opportunities for advancement
Signs of a bad company culture in the manufacturing industry
- Illegal or unethical behavior
- High turnover rate
- Employees don’t feel like they can openly communicate with leadership
- Pressure to work long hours to prove yourself
- No work-life balance
- Employee burnout
How to Improve Company Culture In Manufacturing
Does it feel like businesses with awesome company culture have somehow figured out “the secret?” Having a solid company culture doesn’t mean you need to crack some secret code. Here are 10 of our favorite ways to improve company culture.
1. Identify Your Core Values
If your business doesn’t have a mission statement or a set of company values in place, you should change that ASAP. Your core values will inform the decisions you make, the people you hire, and the culture you create. Spend time thinking critically about what’s most important to your company and use ideas from that to shape your core value set.
Once you have your core values in place, your company culture should reflect those values. If communication is part of your culture transformation and your core values, for example, then consistent 1:1s, town halls, and company staff meetings should be prioritized.
2. Be Transparent and Authentic
Building strong company culture and trust with manufacturing employees is key. A company’s culture moves at the speed of trust. So how do you do that? Develop a company culture of transparent leadership and honesty. Share company success and be candid about challenges (as much as you can). Your team will appreciate your openness and will likely return the favor by being candid towards you too.
And when it comes to looking for a company to join, many employees are searching for this type of positive work environment manufacturing culture and atmosphere. In fact, 81% of surveyed employees would rather join an organization that values open communication.3
3. Value Comradery and Team Unity
Not every co-worker will get along—and that’s okay. If your company’s culture places value on team unity and comradery, those colleagues may be inspired to put their differences aside for the good of the team.
Most employees like to feel as though they belong somewhere, working alongside a team they can trust and rely upon to get the job done. If you strive to create this healthy company culture, your team will take note and take it upon themselves to be the guardians of team unity across the organization.
4. Clearly Communicate Your Mission
What’s your company’s “why?” Employees should come to work every day knowing the company’s mission. Make them feel like their role plays a part in the greater success of the company (because it does). Connect your people to this purpose, and they’ll value the work they do.
On top of that, you need to connect meaning to your company's mission statement. Over half of the U.S. say they have taken a pay cut for a job that gives them meaningful work.4 Manufacturing jobs might not feel like they carry as much weight as an emergency room doctor saving lives, but that’s simply not true. The team working the line or manufacturing floor in your factory is vital to manufacturing and providing products that make their way into homes across the country. That carries great meaning. Be sure your employees know that.
5. Be Flexible
Supporting work-life balance through health and wellness programs is crucial to retaining talent and improving company culture. So be flexible where you can. If your team works mostly shift schedules, offering flex time might not work as well for you as it can for other companies. Still, look for ways you can provide a flexible environment. That might mean unlimited vacation, letting employees adjust their shift to make it to doctor appointments, or just encouraging regular breaks.
Being flexible prevents burnout and pays off in the long run. According to a survey by FlexJobs, 81% of respondents said they would be more loyal to their employer if they had flexible work options.5