Creating a positive business culture attracts quality employees and increases collaboration. Photo: Monkey Business Images | Shutterstock.
It’s true that nobody achieves anything alone in business, but it really helps if every person completes their duties well. Some employees will stand out naturally, while others are content to be behind the scenes. But whatever their preference, you want your employees to be rock stars.
Companies that do well know how to value both individual contributions and collaborations, and companies need both to survive. Here’s how to implement an office culture that sees merit both in working together and in standing out.
Thom Weisel, Silicon Valley finance legend and founder of several successful companies, knows it’s important to build a staff of superstars. Montgomery Securities, the company Weisel founded in 1978, functioned as a group of individual rock stars who also worked well together. “We think that you can have an entrepreneurial culture, a culture that encourages stars, and yet still work as a team,” Weisel said. Montgomery Securities held a daily sales meeting to recognize individual contributions to the company and to talk about that day’s priorities, a process Weisel feels was crucial to the success of the business.
So how do you take individual superstars and make a collaborative team out of them? By beginning with the right kind of office culture. Working toward an environment that encourages not just individual empowerment but also empowerment through collaboration will be a big help. Encourage employees to get together in teams to share ideas. Empower them to help others by rewarding such behavior.
When you find that you have a rock star employee—someone who’s engaged, hard-working, and enthusiastic—use them to help stimulate those qualities in other employees. If your employee demonstrates an ability to do more, let them do more. Teach them to manage people to make sure your company is filled with great leadership.
Additionally, a happy office culture of great employees needs to be an office that stresses responsibility and accountability, consistently. Leadership should demonstrate collaboration, efficiency, and transparency. If you’re doing everything you can to make your employees happy, they will perform at their best. When everyone’s doing their best, you’ll have your team of superstars who know how to work together.
