Team culture

Earlier this year my business was awarded the gold Investors in People standard. Want to know how I did it?

Team Culture. Many of the UK’s best businesses rank team culture as the most important element of their success. But how does that develop and where do leaders start with creating an environment unique to their brand?  The cultivation of company culture is not an overnight process. It takes a significant amount of time, marked by consistent effort and dialogue with employees.  Team culture can’t be faked and is one of the biggest challenges that I know other founders have faced, especially as a business grows quickly.

Whether your starting out, or taking charge of an established firm, here are my tips for creating and evolving an award winning team culture.

Define your values.

Each company can start to create the culture it wants by identifying the values and behaviours that reflect the business and support individual career goals. Values bring clarity to how the organisation operates when empowering others, working together across many teams or offices, client delivery, and team development.

Values vary from business to business, but developing a culture that promotes the growth and development of the company as a whole requires the input of everyone. Ensuring that all staff have a say is crucial. This can be done through interviews, surveys, individual meetings. But it is imperative that company values are not dictated down from the boardroom.

Know your difference.

Having worked with law firms of all sizes, my experience allowed me to cherry-pick the best bits from each of those businesses and channel it into my own.

I knew I wasn’t prepared to cut corners with fees in order to deliver a higher quality service and as a result, that meant our standards had to be higher. And if I expected more from my staff in terms of standards, I also had to provide them with the best possible working experience and highest levels of support.

As a female founder of a law firm, I am aware that adds another layer to my business, which isn’t usual in many legal practices. I think that nurturing element spills over and I always knew that is a core part of the Aconveyancing offering.

It starts from the top down.

While cultural tone starts at the top of an organisation, culture itself is a shared belief system reiterated over time by what is acceptable and what is not. At Aconveyancing, it’s rooted in transparency and integrity. Being honest with what’s expected from management, from staff and the overall business’ ambition.

Tell your staff what you are doing. No matter how removed a founder is from the day to day workings of the office environment, it’s crucial that your team know what their management is up to. Networking lunches can be misconstrued as jollies. Leaving the office for a photoshoot, can be perceived as unnecessary. It’s important that staff at all levels understand the roles of senior management, to help shape their own perception and commitment to the business.