Company culture isn’t born overnight. It’s the result of years of behavioural patterns – a meal cooked up by employees and employers together and one that can ultimately make or break a business. But just how do you create a company where staff happily want to go each day? BD spoke to some of the beauty industry’s bosses for their opinion on what it takes to craft effective workplace culture.
A common goal
‘One team, one dream’ may be a cliché, but a shared goal is key for a positive workplace says beautyheaven and BEAUTYDIRECTORY general manager Michelle Blancato. “[Good company culture is] when everyone in the business is working towards a common goal, rather than doing a job.” Simplify it for your employees by keeping your objectives crystal clear. Recommends Blancato: “Make the common goal really clear. For us it’s about customer service and everything we do, or new product we create, should support that.” As Collective Hub founder Lisa Messenger tells Sporteluxe, the bigger picture should be communicated to all staff members: “Create an extraordinary vision and be able to communicate it to everyone so that they can see the greater goals.”
co-founder Bree Johnson agrees, commenting: “The first step [in any business] is to define the company culture and ensure everyone in the team understands it. Then you need to make it a part of your day to day.” Reminders around the office (whether in the form of verbal communication or modern favourite of a quote) are a great way to continue to inspire employees. Says Johnson, it’s about “having cues set up around the office to remind people and monthly culture club activities are good reminders.”
Both Blancato and LUSH Cosmetics Australia and New Zealand director Peta Granger believe that forming a community or tribe is a part of this process. Says Blancato, sharing a goal forms common values and humans naturally turn towards a sense of belonging: “If the employees believe in the business's purpose, then they’ll have a positive sentiment towards the business and work hard to achieve success.” Continues Granger: “Good company culture makes people feel included, valued, engaged and have an understanding of how their work contributes to the aspirational goals and purpose. Someone once said to me that, ‘People don’t want to sell something, they want to belong to something’ and this really got us focused on trying to create a community within that people wanted to be a part of.”
Says Allure Media group publisher Alison Rice, contribution from all involved is key. "[Good company culture is] on everyone in the business. Top to bottom. Leaders can set the vision and the tone, but we need our teams to show up each day and contribute. One of the questions I ask in interviews is what will you contribute to our culture? People often come back with deliverables of the role but that’s missing the point. Who are you going to be every day? What value will you add?"
Support your staff
Never underestimate the power of encouragement. Staff support and acknowledgement was a key focus of Leonard Lauder – son of Joseph and Estée Lauder and former chief executive of Companies Inc. Of his own practice, he tells Fashionista: "I write people little notes congratulating them if they've done well. Today we had a great presentation at our board of directors meeting from the people at Mac. The minute I got back to my office I sat down and I wrote everyone a handwritten note about how great they were."
Says Johnson, it’s about taking the time to appreciate the members of your team: “Part of being a good leader is caring about your people. Not just that they are working hard but that they feel supported and motivated too. And they want you to succeed, because you're congratulating them for what they've done.” Blancato continues, “[A good workplace recognises] that the business is made up of a team of individuals, rather than a number of staff.” For Blancato, recognition is not just about staff skillsets, but remembering that people are choosing to be there. She summarises: “Recognise that people can get jobs elsewhere, so you should value those who choose to work with you.” And when it comes to valuing staff, “Listen to what people say, call out the wins, be open about how the business is performing, reward the team when you can.”
Rice agrees that listening to feedback from staff not only makes them feel appreciated, but benefits the workplace overall. "One of the hardest but ultimately rewarding bits of work I do with my teams is ask them to be vocal with feedback (get face-to-face) and tackle issues in the moment. A lot of stuff can be solved quickly and with minimal emotion if teams feel prepared and supported to have full and frank conversations. Solving issues on your own is a real marker of professional maturity and high emotional intelligence. Only my two favourite things in the world," she says.
Work hard, play hard
With fewer people working the traditional 9-5, work/life balance is becoming increasingly important. Granger says it is about understanding that staff have lives outside of work and adapting and supporting them accordingly. “Perfectly separating and balancing work and our personal lives is pretty difficult, especially when you’re passionate about the work you do. At LUSH we prefer to focus on a healthy ‘work/life blend’. If you really care about what you do and the impact that technology has on how we talk and communicate then it’s better to get comfortable with the blend of doing what you love at work and home, but making the mix work for you. It’s got less to do with separation and workload and more to do with knowing how to get the best out of yourself.” A part of this is regular assessment and analysis from both the employers and employees. “Regularly measuring how it feels to work within a business, current stress and morale levels and using that information to drive strategy and influence the support given to staff hugely improves engagement and ‘work/life balance’,” believes Granger.
Summarises Blancato: “If you work hard at [a] place you love it can feel rewarding rather than draining, but you can’t expect your team to work 24/7 for a prolonged period of time and be happy about it. For that reason you want your team to get away from the job, focus on other activities and be inspired by other things so they can bring that fresh energy back to work with them.” Rice agrees, continuing: "Leaders can talk about flexibility and autonomy but unless you grab that and find a way to make it meaningful, it’ll feel non-existent. When employees make it work for them, the results are truly amazing. Happy staff = greater productivity and better ideas."
There is no cookie cutter solution to creating an effective workplace environment. But what the experts deem key is taking into account the individual puzzle pieces that make up the business and keeping them. Says Budrys: “Every company will have its own culture that’s unique to the business and the team. The main characteristic is a happy, motivated team. People that enjoy coming to work.”
