How to Build Company Culture at B2Bs and Why It’s Important
Unique and engaging company cultures are a trademark of Silicon Valley tech companies and startups. There, you’ll find offices filled with comfy bean bag chairs, employees with branded hoodies and T-shirts, and all the snacks you could ask for.
However, Silicon Valley startups aren’t the only places where a strong company culture is important. For B2Bs, positive company culture can have major benefits too.
Growing a great company culture starts with developing proper goals, vision, and mission statements, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Here are four easy ways you can improve your B2B company culture and why it’s so important for your brand.
Communicate Hiring and Onboarding
It’s important that new employees know what is expected of them, and that their new position is valued by the company. Print and send welcome kits to new employees before their first day. Write a handwritten note, include a T-shirt and some company swag, and make sure it looks nice. You can even include messages from future teammates welcoming them to the team.
Be sure to get the boring paperwork out of the way before their first day, so they can use that crucial time to meet and engage with their new coworkers. Efforts like these make new employees feel welcomed and can help make them feel comfortable in their new role.
Show Employees They Matter to Increase Morale
Employees like feeling noticed. Posting photos on social media is another great way to recognize your employees. Employee photos are known for getting high engagement on Facebook and other social media sites.
Receiving a compliment from an employer on social media is a good feeling. In fact, improved morale has been shown to increase employee productivity, which makes sharing photos of employees on social media a win-win for B2Bs.
Photos can be taken of employees performing their jobs, at company events, or even from non-job-related activities like volunteering, charity work, or anything else that reflects the company in a positive light.
Set Standards Without Lecturing
Setting standards and maintaining them are key to company culture. Use this as an opportunity to create fun and engaging ways that contribute to company culture. Over 150 Walmart Distribution Centers made an interactive game available to their employees asking safety questions. Participation rate averaged 91% and the company saw a 54% reduction in safety incidents after implementing the game. That’s a huge success.
B2Bs can also produce newsletters, internal signage, or videos that focus on other values that align with your company’s desired culture. These reminders will help employees to more easily keep company culture top of mind.
Below is a safety video Nichols Brand Stories produced for Steel Dynamics, Inc. The video was an engaging way to remind their teams about the importance of protecting one another and always considering safety first. SDI was able to avoid the pitfalls of lecturing while letting their real employees shine as they did the talking for the company.
Share Feedback with Employees
Ask for feedback from customers. When you get good news back, share it with employees. Let them know how they contributed and how valued they are as members of the team.
A well-designed email or a creative print survey can be a great way to get feedback from B2B customers. Not only can that feedback be used to motivate employees and improve morale, it can also be used to improve processes and increase efficiency.
Negative feedback can also be used to improve company culture. Instead of using it to unilaterally change processes or punish employees, use negative feedback as a way to bring employees into decision-making processes. This lets employees know that they’re being heard, and their expertise isn’t being ignored when discussing specific process changes.
Build Your B2B Company Culture
Company culture can’t be forced. Instead, provide the opportunities, an encouraging environment, support materials, and leadership that allows a positive company culture to take root.
Building a strategy for developing company culture is no easy task, and you shouldn’t have to do it alone. With the right strategy in place, B2Bs can enhance the hiring process, minimize turnover, increase productivity, and produce a higher-quality product or service. If your B2B is ready to elevate your company culture, send me an email at barmbruster@WeTellYourStory.com to start a conversation now.