Creating a great home care, senior living or other long-term care or organizational culture doesn’t happen by accident. It’s deliberate and requires intentional leadership strategies that foster positive, productive and inclusive work environments.
Your leadership has a profound impact on company culture. Strong leaders inspire others with a feeling of direction, purpose, and team collaboration. The stronger the culture, the more your staff will be committed to staying and accomplishing organizational goals and objectives. According to HR Magazine, without a strong company culture, “You will be burdened with high turnover, absenteeism, demotivated, and unproductive employees.”
What is company culture?
Company culture is the driving force behind your business. It’s the day-to-day experience at work. It defines how your team interacts with each other and leadership as well as performs at their jobs.
Company culture is more than your organization’s core values written in the employee handbook or posted to your website. These values must be embedded in your operations. A great company culture is when you create an environment where employees feel they count and their ideas matter. Plus, it emphasizes the importance of respect, ethics, and leaders who embody your core values.
Why is company culture so important in long-term care and other industries?
It decreases the revolving door. A great company culture increases employee satisfaction and engagement and as a result, turnover decreases.
It attracts the best talent. A great company culture is a magnet offering numerous advantages that make the organization appealing to highly skilled and motivated healthcare executives and staff.
It improves the organization’s public image. A great company culture reflects positively on the public image of your senior living or home care organization and community. Happy employees are likely to share their positive experience and the word gets out fast.
How can long-term care leaders achieve a great company culture?
Here are 10 strategies:
Lead by example. The actions you display as a leader speaks volumes. You must show consistency in behavior and integrity everyday. Your behavior sets the tone for the workplace environment and influences how your team members interact with you and one another. As a leader, you must embody the values you wish to promote in order to foster a strong organizational culture.
Instill transparency. A crucial strategy in creating a great company culture is transparency. When leaders are open about decisions and challenges, it builds credibility and trust with employees. Transparency also contributes to higher employee satisfaction, better retention and a stronger brand reputation overall. Building and achieving a culture of honesty and openness between leadership, managers, and employees should be on every leader’s priority list.
Prioritize hiring and retention. Recruiting and hiring top executive talent and implementing retention programs places a focus on talent management that reflects your company culture. When hiring people who align with your values and vision and who embody your culture, you’ll keep talent engaged and more likely retained.
Empower employees. Employee empowerment is another key to creating a positive company culture. When you empower your employees, they feel a sense of ownership over their work and in turn, this boosts their motivation and engagement. Empowerment provides employees with the autonomy to make decisions and take initiative, fostering a more dynamic, and proactive work environment.
Implement cross functional training. By implementing a cross-training strategy, employees perform tasks outside their primary job functions. Employees generally appreciate this strategy since it’s help them to acquire additional skills and knowledge making them more versatile and valuable. For leaders, this is a great way to build a more flexible, innovative and resilient organization, positioning it and their employees for long-term success. In addition, cross-functional training promotes unity and therefore strengthens the team and overall company culture.
Foster teamwork and collaboration. Teamwork brings together individuals with different skills and viewpoints, leading to creative and effective solutions. Collaborating as a group often results in better decision making than working alone in isolation. Plus, when teams collaborate, tasks can be divided according to each member’s strengths, increasing efficiency and productivity. Teams can achieve more together than individually leading to better outcomes.
Promote from within. Promoting from within is an excellent leadership strategy when it comes to creating a great company culture. Promotions acknowledge and reward employees’ hard work and dedication, boosting morale and job satisfaction. Employees who see opportunities stick around. Offering clear career paths and growth opportunities reduces turnover and job stagnation.
Enhance resilience. Leaders who adapt well during times of change help their organization navigate through challenges and uncertain times, by maintaining stability and positive employee morale. By modeling adaptability, leaders encourage employees to develop resilience and flexibility which are crucial to building a great culture and long-term organizational success.
Emphasize self care and well-being. Leaders who emphasize physical and mental health foster a positive and productive work environment. Promoting self-care helps reduce stress, burnout and illness. Plus, today’s workforce places a high value on work-life balance. By stressing self-care and well-being, leaders can create a thriving company culture where staff feel valued and supported. Plus, this strategy not only benefits individuals but also enhances overall organizational health and success.
Keep lines of communication open. Open communication is a crucial leadership strategy for cultivating a great culture since it fosters trust between leaders and staff and demonstrates honesty and integrity. When information flows freely, your staff feels more informed and involved. Employees appreciate being kept in the loop regarding company matters. This gives them a voice and a platform to express any concerns and offer feedback. In addition, open communication allows for frequent recognition and appreciation of your employees’ efforts.
Can your company culture be changed?
Yes. Your company culture can be changed and sometimes it might be necessary. Here’s a general view of what it takes:
- Assess existing culture
- Collect feedback from staff
- Define your clear vision
- Obtain top-down support
- Communicate and engage
- Align policies and practices
- Provide skills training & development
- Create new company traditions
- Monitor and adapt
Your leadership team plays a crucial role in achieving a great company culture. Leaders set the tone and are pivotal in creating a work environment that engages current employees as well as attracts and retains top talent which ultimately drives long-term organizational success.
Julie Rupenski is the founder and CEO of MedBest Recruiting. Since she opened MedBest’s doors in 2001, Rupenski has grown MedBest into an award-winning, multimillion-dollar national firm, garnering impressive awards including INC 5000 2021 and Tampa Bay Fast 50 2021 and Top Interim Services Provider 2023! In addition, Rupenski was named as one of the “Top 100 Women Leaders in Tampa 2022″ by Women We Admire.
