The pandemic has re-shaped many businesses’ operations during the past 12 months, with company culture often suffering as a result. This problem has affected businesses of all sizes, and with the UK currently in the grips of a third national lockdown, it shows no sign of abating.
In line with this, Opencast, the independent enterprise technology consultancy, is today sharing some top tips that tech businesses should consider when looking to maintain their company culture when working in today’s unpredictable business environment.
- Take a flexible approach
Many employees will feel as if their lives are out control at the moment, so businesses should focus on creating a culture of flexibility that allows staff to make sensible decisions about how they work, whether that means starting and finishing a bit later in the day, or working around their childcare responsibilities .
Providing teams with this added flexibility will not only result in a happier and more motivated workforce, but will also encourage employees to deliver high quality work that will help the company achieve its longer term goals.
- Promote a culture of learning that reinforces the company’s vision
As a company’s priorities change – as they have done during the pandemic – it’s important for businesses to adapt very quickly. In many cases, that may require the upskilling or reskilling of employees.
Investing in employee training will not only enable businesses to pivot to meet changing market demands, but will also help to create a culture of learning. It is not uncommon for business leaders to overlook training for existing staff and to focus on new recruits instead. However, to maintain staff engagement, it’s vital that staff are able to enhance their existing skills whilst learning new ones.
- Recruit for culture and capability with equal weighting
Recruiting during a pandemic can be difficult, but it is still essential to ensure that any potential employees have the right culture fit, as well as the right capability fit. The truth is that skills are easy to learn, but personality traits are harder to change.
Businesses should consider placing questions or tasks into the interview that really test what the candidate’s personality is like. For example, setting ‘unexpected’ tasks that fall outside applicants’ expertise can allow the senior team to examine how the candidate responds to situations like these. It goes without saying that it’s also imperative to consider how the candidate will work with the rest of the team.
Tom Lawson CEO of Opencast, comments:
“Faced with another unpredictable year, company culture is one area that businesses can control and refine. Culture is not only a central factor in attracting top employees and clients, but can also have a drastic impact on business performance. Despite this, many companies continue to overlook company culture when making important business decisions.
As we continue to face more uncertainty, it’s more important than ever that company culture is not overlooked. By harnessing the power that a positive working environment can provide, businesses have an opportunity to motivate their employees and ensure that the business achieves its goals .”
