February is more popularly known as the love month. While most people are going to celebrate romantic love, we need to remember there are other forms of love as well. Love isn’t just applicable to romantic relationships. It applies to all areas of our lives- even our work.
Youtube influencer and author Evan Carmichael shares that every company must have their “one word”- the one thing that defines the company’s mission and goals. In Outsourcing Angel, that one word is “love.” Everything that we do we do out of love for our clients, virtual assistants, beneficiaries, partners and anyone who comes in contact with us. In all we do, we make sure we are driven by love. And it’s this value, love, that has helped us build a strong team culture.
“Culture is a shared way of doing something with a
passion.” – Brian Chesky, CEO of AirBnb
What is company culture and why is it important? AirBnb CEO Brian Chesky defines culture as “a shared way of doing something with a passion.” In many ways, our culture is the root of our successes. A positive team culture does many wonderful things to an organisation. Here are just some.
- Love creates a raving team. When you inject a lot of love into your organisation, people become passionate about what they do. They rave about the business and become happy and proud that they’re a part of it. With love as a value, serving clients and even one another stops being a chore and becomes a delight.
- Love brings loyalty. Many virtual teams today struggle with high turnover rates, which in turn creates a lot of problems. When people constantly leave your company you waste precious resources, time and energy. Building a culture of love in your organisation helps fight that problem.
- Love develops people. When you love people, you make them better. It works between romantic relationships and with professional ones too. One of the best ways to watch your people grow and improve character and skill-wise is to show love, appreciation and respect.
It’s no secret that having a strong company culture is highly beneficial to your business. But how can one build a positive company culture with love? Here are four simple practices that you can create a positive culture in your business today.
1. Genuinely care for your people
At our company, we do our absolute best to show our virtual employees that we care for them. For us to build an external culture, it must first start from within. The key is to be genuine. Most if not all people can sense when leaders are not genuine in their care.
It’s a good practice to ask your managers, directors and even yourself this question every day: “Do I truly genuinely care for the people in our organisation?” Building a positive culture starts from within the leadership. When we are driven by genuine care for our people- even at some level of expense to ourselves- we start to create a positive culture of love in our teams.
2. Practice generosity towards your team
Internal convictions are great, but they’re just the starting point. At the end of the day, a positive culture is only built when leaders act on those convictions. The best way to act on genuine care is to practice generosity.
It’s common nowadays for companies to think that it’s impractical and counterproductive to be generous. However, being generous to your team can really help boost morale and productivity in your team. Moreover, when a company is generous to their staff, their staff tend to become generous towards others as well. When we make generosity viral, it creates a positive culture in your organisation.
3. Pay it forward
There’s a lot of talk about corporate social responsibility nowadays. Businesses can do more than give back to their staff. They can also pay it forward to the community. Late last year, bushfires ravaged a huge portion of Australian lands. When that happened, businesses and organisations mobilised to give, volunteer and spread awareness.
In our own little way, pitching in makes a difference. But another thing that it does is build a greater sense of calling and purpose amongst our team. Companies that regularly give back will naturally have staff that are happier and more motivated. They share that knowing that a company gives back makes them feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves.
4. Sacrifice
Simon Sinek, in his book “Leaders Eat Last,” shares a very powerful thesis- that leaders that sacrifice for the good of their people are more likely to see positive results in the organisation. Too often leaders sacrifice their people for the sake of personal gain. But there is a ripple effect in organisations where leaders sacrifice personal gain for the sake of their people.
Leaders can make sacrifices for others in many small ways. Sometimes it’s as simple as giving a little more time to coach your virtual assistants or giving people paid days off on holidays. Those small gestures of sacrifice can certainly go a long way in creating a positive culture in your virtual team.
Love is an Action
If there’s one thing that we’ve learned at Outsourcing Angel, it’s that love is an action. When you want to show love to your virtual employees or your clients, you need to act on it. Admittedly, all these tips are nothing new. But when we take these simple practices, it can really create an impact and help you create a positive culture. So why not try it out for yourself?
Positive team culture can be highly beneficial for your business. With a dose of love, generosity and genuine care, you’ll be able to build a culture that you and your team would be proud to call your own.
