What Corporate Norms Do We Need That Can Create an Environment for Everyone to Thrive?

Let’s face it: your employees’ loyalty to the company largely depends on how willing you are to make them feel valued at work.

Creating a positive company culture is imperative nowadays, especially when your country’s reputation can be changed easily through social media. 21% of job seekers consider a company’s culture when deciding to accept a job offer

But how do you ensure that your employees belonging to different social groups of age, class, gender, ethnicity, religion etc. all feel comfortable with their differences? For one thing: you need to establish certain ground rules. Here are some corporate norms that can help you create a conducive environment for everyone.

Celebrate Differences

Unless you’re purposely recruiting a certain type of people, you will always have a diverse set of employees. Promote diversity by welcoming people from all walks of life and rejoice in how different they are.

One way you can do this is by establishing a committee that adds to your company’s diversity initiatives. You can also work with the HR department to ensure you recruit people from diverse backgrounds, skills, experiences, and social groups, even as your organizations expands.

Not only will you promote a positive, inclusive work culture, but it’ll also encourage and attract other gifted people to apply to your organization. After all, you never know where you’ll find the greatest talent.

Give Precedence to Respect

You may have noticed that many organizations respect employees based on their designation. An intern is highly likely to be treated as a servant who’s hired solely for running errands or doing mundane tasks. But to create a thriving workplace culture, every person has to feel like they’re heard.

Irrespective of what people’s status is within the company, know that every person brings something unique to the table. New hires often give a fresh take on things while a person from a different department can give a unique and objective perspective that you may have even missed.

Since you don’t know from where the next big idea will appear, allow every employee to share their thoughts and feedback. A little bit of adjustment goes a long way!

Don’t Look for “Culture Fits”

Sounds almost contradictory to what you’ve normally heard, right? You’re certainly not the only one. To create an inclusive culture, it’s important to recruit culture adds instead of culture fits.

This means that you should look for candidates who share your fundamental values and provide a distinctive perspective at the same time. Hiring people who fit into a predefined shape won’t add value to your team, nor will it help you grow and develop your company and culture.

Be Accommodating of Unforeseen Situations

Understand that life happens, and things can easily get out of control. Your employees shouldn’t have to fear the consequences for simply taking time off to manage emergencies or personal responsibilities. Try to reach a compromise if, for example, someone is struggling to balance their work with family life.

People can work more productively with a clear mind and without having to worry about sacrificing their personal life. This will also help you gain your employees’ respect and attract the cream of the crop. Statistics show that 88 percent of individuals would much rather consider a lower-paying job over a higher-paid one provided the former offers a flexible schedule.