Food for Thought: Company Culture
At the heart of company culture is the employee. To maintain a consistent culture that works well, a focus on culture needs to be part of every aspect of employee life-- from hiring and growth plans to business decisions that are made every day.
According to Jon Wolske of Zappos, a shoe company highly recognized for a positive culture, the ‘stuff’ we normally associate with great company culture should be in the language of the employees. For some, this means a beer fridge in the office, for others it means the opportunity to attend classes.
At Jovian Concepts, company culture is a key part of every decision we make. Consider just a few ways that culture is fostered at Jovian Concepts:
Company structure—Each Section Manager has no more than five employees in a section, allowing the Section Managers to get to know what’s important to each employee, both at work and outside work.
Communication—With multiple channels for feedback, from anonymous surveys to face-to-face All Hands meetings with the CEO, communication is so important to keeping a healthy culture that Jovian Concepts employees created a Culture and Communications team.
Socializing—Being together is an important part of healthy relationships, so Jovian Concepts strives to bring employees together twice a year as a whole company, and informally throughout the year for happy hours, All Hands meetings, Section meetings, leadership retreats, family picnics, and fun outings.
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To listen to more about nurturing culture, check out The Growth Show interview with Jon Wolske, https://soundcloud.com/the-growth-show/zappos-lovable-company-culture
To read more about Jovian's focus on corporate culture, check out our SmartCEO win, http://www.smartceo.com/baltimore-corporate-culture-awards/