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5 ELEMENTS THAT MAKE GREAT COMPANY CULTURE

​“Maintaining an effective culture is so important that it, in fact, trumps even strategy.”– Howard StevensonCulture. It’s a word you hear often if you follow blogs on entrepreneurship or read articles on business and management. But what is it exactly?According to Frances Frei and Anne Morriss at Harvard Business Review:“Culture guides discretionary behavior and it picks up where the employee handbook leaves off. Culture tells us how to respond to an unprecedented service request. It tells us whether to risk telling our bosses about our new ideas, and whether to surface or hide problems. Employees make hundreds of decisions on their own every day, and culture is our guide. Culture tells us what to do when the CEO isn’t in the room, which is of course most of the time.”61 Million Gen Zers are entering the workforce this year. While success and growth remain the number one driving factor for choosing a job, 71% of those surveyed also believe that a company’s culture can make or break a new opportunity.Changing your organizational environment is daunting, but our executive search experts have analyzed the 5 best elements that make great company culture.FLEXIBLE WORK SCHEDULES INCREASES OVERALL PRODUCTIVITYHaving a flexible company allows employees to feel more relaxed, welcomed and appreciated. Employees who have the support of their employer when “Life Happens” are 61% more likely to be flexible for the business’s needs in the long run.HOW DO YOU IMPLEMENT A FLEXIBILITY POLICY?At Ajulia Executive Search, having a flexible work schedule is an earned reward for dedicated and hard working employees. Top performing recruiters have the flexibility of choosing their work hours because as a business we know they will honor that commitment. Ajulia respects the fact that a healthy work life balance is necessary for growth and success. As an organization, those same recruiters make up 70% of our annual revenue.Changing your company’s’ culture is as easy as talking to your employees. Ask them what policies or allowances they would like that would allow them more flexibility.TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION BUILDS TRUST AND CONFIDENCEAs a business executive, you are one of your companies’ leaders. This means you have insight into inner workings of your business, your industry and your company’s future. 82% of Gen Zers said they value having insight to the bigger picture of the company they are working for.Did your Sales Director attend The World Business Forum? A brief review is useful and helpful knowledge to share with the respective teams. Is there an organizational change coming because it better helps achieve your companies’ goals? Empower your employees with not only the knowledge of what is happening, but why it is happening.Studies show that the more an employee feels like a partner of a business, the better they take care of it.REWARDING SUCCESS LEADS TO INCREASED COLLABORATIONRecognizing an employee when they achieve something, overcome challenges, help improve the business, or simply help a fellow employee can be one of the most powerful factors in defining your company’s’ culture.Companies that have a recognition-rich culture tend to have lower turnover rates and higher morale.Ajulia Executive Search embraces a unique employee of the month program that recognizes an individual based on their overall overall contributions to the company. We found this approach welcoming to every department and team within our business and opened the doors for more cross collaboration with people and teams that knew their work and communication would be recognized.Studies show that when recognition comes at every level of an organization, employees feel valued, impactful, and important. Build stronger relationships between yourself and teams by implementing simple employee recognition programs.DIVERSIFYING YOUR WORKFORCE LEADS TO GREATER PRODUCTIVITY AND TEAMWORKDiversity brings different talents together, all of them working towards a common goal using different sets of skills.At Ajulia Executive Search, we pride ourselves on our cultural diversity. We hire the most highly skilled associates to ensure that we are maximizing our potential reach. How do we diversify? We offer programs, benefits, and educational opportunities that attract and retains associates. A great example of this is our flexible holiday schedule. Of the total days earned by employees, 10% are allocated for the employee to self choose their holidays.Diversifying the employees plus the work and systems in place allows an organization to grow, learn and build a better team.EMPOWER EMPLOYEES WITH LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALSAt the beginning of this article how we said ‘Success and personal growth remains the number one driving factor for choosing a job?’ A majority of Gen Zers are not focusing on higher education because they fear incurring more debt with little reward. Companies like Microsoft, Paypal, Macys, and Google offer education programs where employees can earn certifications, tuition reimbursement and real work experience while learning on the job. Programs like this provides instant gratification and motivation for employees to continue to achieve higher results.Employees that recognizes positive growth opportunities financially and skillfully are 80% more likely to be loyal to an organization than those that do not.Offering Certification courses or individual training is something Ajulia Executive Search takes very seriously. Our training department is constantly revamping and introducing new opportunities for skills growth, industry knowledge, and workflow efficiency training.Behind every successful organization is a training team working hard to stay on provide the greatest opportunities for each employee.THE CULTURE OF AN ORGANIZATION IS NOW SEEN AS THE FOUNDATION OF BUSINESS. A SOLID FOUNDATION GUARANTEES CONSISTENT AND HIGH GROWTH OF A BUSINESS. Flexible Work Schedules Increase Overall ProductivityTransparent Communication builds Trust and ConfidenceRewarding Success leads to Increased CollaborationDiversifying your Workforce Leads to Greater Productivity and TeamworkEmpower Employees with Learning Opportunities to Achieve their GoalsThese proven elements will quickly increase overall productivity, retention and internal teamwork.  If you like our guide, please share on social media or with an executive, leader or coworker who is looking to improve their companies’ culture today!