Leadership and Workplace Culture: Creating a Thriving Environment
Hey there leaders!
In case you missed it, I was recently on The Doula Road Trip Podcast where we talked about workplace culture, creating policies in your business, the 5 core pillars of leadership, and what leaders can be doing better to create a thriving team culture. Whether you are a manager working in a corporation or an entrepreneur thinking of hiring more people onto your team- this episode is for you! I will attach the link to the podcast at the bottom but keep reading for the breakdown!
Workplace Culture
The first step in creating a thriving team culture is understanding what goes into creating a team culture. As the leader, you have to be aware of the type of environment you are wanting to create and ask yourself, “Are the policies I have in place fostering a culture where people feel psychologically safe and able to flourish?”
Two of the main components that make up workplace culture are the people who are working in your business (this includes everyone from the CEO to the ones implementing the daily tasks) and policies. The policies in your company determine how people are treated and how possible issues in the business will be handled. These are extremely important in helping establish more fairness and equality. The policies you have will also help you make sure you have the right people in place who reflect the same workplace values and can stick to the standards you have set.
How do you begin to make your own policies in your business or to improve the current company you are working in?
Get clear with your own expectations and workplace values - What are your working hours, what are your hours you’re okay working within, what are your boundaries?
Communicate those expectations - talk them over and write them out
Create policies around your values and expectations **These should all be in a contract**
What do you expect for communication - response time to emails, notice for leave, software they are expected to use to communicate
Work hours - when they need to be available, when they won’t be available, how much time is required per week
Sick time, paid time off, vacation - how much notice is expected when taking time off, do you require a doctor’s note, how is vacation time handled
The 5 Pillars of Successful Leadership
If you’ve been around, you know how much I love these 5 pillars. To learn more, head over to my other blog post all about these pillars!
What to keep in mind when creating your team culture
Talk about your expectations from the beginning. Make sure that your expectations are clear and your team agrees that they are doable for them, otherwise they may not be a great fit.
Talk about what you value in the workplace. You want to have a team who reflects and upholds your company's values.
My favorite resource for this is from Dare to Lead by Brene Brown, PhD.
Do you have any questions or want to continue the conversation? Comment below or reach out via email or on LinkedIn!