6 Signs Of A Healthy Company Culture

While company culture can certainly include events like catered lunches and company picnics (like this photo from our 2021 annual company BBQ), ping-pong tournaments, "walktober," or any number and combination of programs and initiatives designed to bring your team together, there is a lot more that can be included in this discussion that doesn't necessarily involve all of the "extra perks."

Truthfully, while the above is all very nice (and we recommend implementing your own ideas for fun, team-building events), company culture truly encompasses a lot more than just the perks.

It's the very heartbeat of your business, and what really matters is all of the little things that happen daily. As they say, it's the little things become that become the big things, and that's the truth.

Whether you're a small or large manufacturing company, it's well worth your time to not skimp on your company culture or hope it happens by accident. Because truthfully, it won't.

It's important to be intentional!

According to a survey on Business News Daily, 77% of adult job seekers said they would consider a company's culture before seeking a job with them.

They added that a healthy company culture that aligns with their personal values is more important to them than salary.

Furthermore, a vibrant company culture is more likely to inspire employees to want to stay long-term, as they feel more fulfilled by their career than those who are at a company that doesn't take time to foster a genuine workplace identity and goals.

If you're unsure where your company culture stands right now, here are just 6 signs that can help you gauge how healthy your company is, and hopefully help inspire the next strategic steps you might take to help improve it!

#1. You Have A Clear & Concise Company Identity

It goes without saying, but when you know who you are and what you stand for, you will be able to withstand even the toughest of times.

The same goes for your workforce. If they understand the company values from the beginning and if everything revolves around those values, they will feel secure no matter what comes their way. If everything operates around defined company values and morals, important decisions will be made more swiftly and efficiently.

While nobody can be expected to always agree on everything, hiring employees who align with your values will increase the likelihood that people will get along despite any differences they may have. It will help bring everyone together under unifying attributes and goals that everyone can agree on. It will help ensure that you've hired people who will have integrity and pass along these important values to your valuable customers.

#2. Your Company Is Full Of High-Quality People Doing Work They Find Meaningful & Fulfilling

Company culture is a lot more than simply filling vacant positions with someone who seems like they can do the job. It's about hiring the right people for the perfect-for-them-position. This involves getting to know a bit about their passions, personality, what drives them, how they learn, and very importantly, where they are truly going to thrive at your company.

Happy employees will do their best work. They'll bring their passion and A game with them daily. They'll feel inspired, refreshed, and fulfilled by how they fill the hours from the moment they clock in, to when they leave for the day.

This doesn't necessarily mean that their career has to be their absolute passion, but means that what they're doing on a daily basis is valuable to them because they're doing something good and worthwhile.

When they're passionate about their career, find success within it, and feel fulfilled, they will be more likely to stay with you long-term and will pour all of their hearts and effort into doing the best they can.

#3. A Well Developed & Positive Training Program

Speaking of helping employees find a position where they thrive, one of the most overlooked, skimped on, and taken for granted tools at your disposal (in my humble opinion), is to develop a training program.

Think of it as an "internal business school," because really, that's what it is, if it's done properly.

This is your chance to invest in your existing employees and new hires. We all understand manufacturing is fast-paced, and there are schedules to keep and deadlines to meet. Those are important things to keep in mind. But if you throw your new hires to the wolves (so to speak), too soon, you run the risk of higher turnover and you also miss out on the chance to help them dive a little deeper into why they're doing what they're doing in their job.

For example, our two sister companies (Polyfuze Graphics & Mold In Graphic Systems) are in the process of developing a more robust training program for our manufacturing force, with great success thus far. New hires are shown multiple departments within the facility so they understand the end product of what it is they're actually involved in manufacturing or creating and why it matters. They are taught to understand the importance of quality, continuous improvement, and LEAN Six Sigma (which is the program we've chosen to implement with great success).

According to Shane Trimble, our Training Coordinator, "It's a combination of job-shadowing while also providing more up-front and on-the-job training in an intentional and thorough way."

New hires are also not limited to the one position they were initially hired for, they are rotated in different departments to allow them to find a role that truly brings out their unique skill and passion, and also helps them acquire a whole set of skills in the process.

Shane explains how our training program also invests in existing employees. This program is designed for individuals who didn't have the benefit of the training program when they were initially hired. They understand their jobs inside and out and are excellent workers, but are often stressed by schedules and deadlines. This program is designed to help them realize it's ok to slow down and take time to find continuous improvements that will make their jobs easier on the whole or improve product quality. They also attend weekly classes and training that teach them vital skills that will help them in their jobs.

You may feel like you simply don't have time for a training program. How can you stop what you're doing to allow time for extra training? Our Director of Operations, Malachi Collins, had a perfect response to this, "It's like being so busy you don't have time to stop for gas. But when you run out of gas, it's going to be a lot worse than if you had just taken the time to stop and refuel." He credits Robin Sharma with the quote, but it resonated with him very much.

The truth is, you can't afford to not invest in and develop a successful training program.

Help new hires and existing employees feel valued by you, and help them see a future with your company because you will literally be laying out the steps they need to take to "climb the ladder to success," so to speak.

It's a win-win for all!

#4. When Mistakes Happen, Strive To Improve Failed Processes Instead Of Quick Blaming

We always want to do our best, of course, and nobody is perfect. LEAN Six Sigma is a successful tool that teaches us the value of minimizing mistakes and process failures.

This is exactly why we chose to implement this type of quality program into our facility.

It gives every single employee a valued voice.

People are able to ask "why," instead of just continuing to do things the way they've always been done. They are encouraged to make "2-second improvements."

The goal of this is two-fold. First, it helps make the job easier for employees. Nobody should clock into work every day dreading all the obstacles they're going to have to face just to get their job done. Allowing them to make improvements means facilitating a smoother workday for them! Secondly, its aim is to eliminate waste! If you haven't heard or ever looked at your "hidden factory costs," it's time to do a little math for yourself.

How much time might be wasted because an employee can't find the tools he or she needs to perform their job because there is no reliable place to put them?

For the sake of an example, let's say it takes the employee 5 minutes every day just to find their tools. That may not seem like much, but take that 5 minutes, and multiply by the average number of workdays per year, 260.

260 X 5 minutes = 1,300 minutes.

Divide this by 60 (minutes in an hour), and you have 21.66 hours per year that just one employee spends trying to locate their tools in order to do their job.

In our way of thinking, you could invest in a toolbox or workbench with kaizen foam, help the employee get their tools organized, and implement a process that gives that employee time at the end of each workday to ensure every tool is back on the bench in its own space, saving all that time, money, and frustration!

So what does all of this have to do with mistakes? Instead of immediately blaming an individual for something that has gone wrong, it's vital to understand why it went wrong in the first place. Don't slap a bandaid on it, get to the root cause. Where did the process failure take place? If there's a break-down somewhere, it's the perfect chance to fix it and remedy what went wrong so as to prevent it from happening again.

If the same mistake keeps happening even after all necessary process improvements have taken place, that might be a different story. But it's worthwhile to focus on fixing your processes to help give your employees all the tools they need to be successful.

#5. You Have Low Employee Turnover

If you're doing all the above correctly, the bottom line is that you will attract employees who will want to stick with you long-term. Companies with high turnover rates suffer. Those companies end up in a vicious cycle that costs a lot.

The employees that do stick with you end up shouldering a lot more responsibility a lot more of the time, as they not only fill in the gaps where employees have left, but they also have to train new people all the time. This causes them to burn out and makes it more likely that they will leave.

Whatever you can do to help create an environment that provides excellent onboarding training, makes employees' jobs run more smoothly, and helps them feel valued and fulfilled will help you retain a workforce that will stick by you no matter how tough it may get. It's worth the initial work of figuring out a structure that works for everyone in order to ensure your employees will want to stay.

#6. Your Employees Have Become Advocates For Your Company

And last but not least, if you're doing all the above correctly, in a way that fits your business, then your employees become more than employees. They will become your biggest fans and advocates. The excellent, passionate work they do will translate into high-quality service and products for your customers, who will reap the benefits of your strong and deeply healthy company culture. Think of businesses like Dutch Bros. Coffee, Chick-Fil-A, or In-N-Out Burger ... you can always find heartwarming stories of the way their employees go above and beyond for their customers. That's because they themselves are happy in their thriving company culture. It really does come full circle.

To sum it up, it pays to invest in your employees and to create a strong, healthy company culture. You will enjoy the benefits for years to come, as will your employees! One of our most important mottos here at Polyfuze Graphics that we take seriously, is "Together Everyone Achieves More." If you treat this statement as if it's true (because it is), you will not only dream about success, you'll live it.

I love working for a company that fosters a strong culture within our workplace for myself and my coworkers. It helps us spend our workdays in a place that is inspiring, refreshing, fulfilling, and gives us the tools we need to ensure that the very best quality of service and product is passed along to our wonderful customers.

And as every great company should strive for, the improvement never stops! I look forward to sharing more of our stories with you!

In the meantime, I would really love to hear the ideas you have about how to build or maintain a strong workplace culture, or what your company is doing to foster this concept.

Share your ideas or stories in the comments!