20 Things HR Can Do to help Transform Company Culture

One might argue that HR’s role in corporate culture is to maintain and uphold it, and nothing more. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

HR serves as the entryway to the company, the first impression for new hires, and it’s your talent force that helps to shape and engage in your culture. HR is the one helping employees find their way, answer questions, and become involved as a dutiful employee. They may not set the stage for success, but they’re ultimately responsible for ensuring each player acts out their part.

If you find you’re in need of a culture boost, you need only turn to the right people to make it happen. Here are 20 ways HR can help:

Don’t Let Culture ‘Happen’

Your company culture is too important to leave to chance. Set goals, give it purpose, and know what you want to achieve.

Inject Culture into Everything

Culture isn’t a separate entity at work. It should be part of everything you do. From hiring to training to onboarding and more, everything HR does should reflect cultural values.

Conduct Ongoing Feedback

Surveys and focus groups give employees a way to share their opinions on a regular basis, while also feeling part of the team.

Share Feedback Results

Feedback is useless unless you do something with it. When you make changes based on feedback, let your team know it’s because someone spoke up.

Coach Leadership

Use the findings from surveys and focus groups to show leadership how certain attitudes or opinions can affect the company culture, and offer suggestions on how negativity can be reshaped.

Hire Based on Cultural Fit

Skills and prior work history are helpful, but can’t guarantee organizational success if the candidate is a poor cultural fit. Choose candidates that exhibit cultural potential – skills can be learned later.

Remove Unfit Leaders

HR may not have the direct ability to remove leaders, but they should influence leadership when those in other leadership roles are not living up to expectations. Not doing so may result in an exodus of your best talent.

Set the Example

It’s an old piece of advice, but you should exhibit the qualities you expect from your team. You can use your influence to help others create a better aligned vision within the company.

Be Transparent

Be open and forthcoming with the employees. Backoffice politics can make you seem untrustworthy. When you’re transparent, employees are more likely to reciprocate.

Foster Communication

In our digital age, there are countless tools that can encourage ongoing communication. Invest in tools like Slack, Trello, or Yammer to keep the conversation flowing. You’d be surprised at what you could learn from others.

Recognize Contributions

People like to be noticed for their efforts, even if they feel like they’re simply doing their job. Make sure not to let good work go unnoticed. Even a little company-wide recognition can go a long way in motivating others.

Be Positive

Things may happen that’s completely out of HR’s control. Employees may look to HR to see how they react to changes in the company, so HR should be prepared to remain positive.

Embrace Autonomy

No one likes to be micromanaged. It’s not efficient and does nothing to inspire trust. Rather, HR can influence others by letting them choose to participate in culture activities, like team building and group tasks. However, you can encourage participation by letting them know what’s in it for them.

Be Flexible

From dress codes to schedules, companies recognize flexibility can help boost morale while reducing turnover. This may be out of HR’s hands without leadership approval, so you may need to have a meeting with the higher-ups to see what you can offer employees.