How to Improve Work Culture & Why We Love What We Do At Felins

It’s clear that a strong company culture is essential to the success of any business. A company might have efficient systems in place and great employees, but without a strong culture, it is unlikely that they are realizing their full potential. In fact, studies have shown that certain cultural traits may be utilized as predictors of an organization’s performance and effectiveness. In other words, companies with a strong culture tend to perform better than those that do not. This is because a strong culture results in employees working toward common goals under a shared mission and vision, better communication between employees, increased respect and mutual trust among employees, and a reduced turnover rate. So, how do you create a strong culture to leverage these advantages? Here at Felins, we pride ourselves on our culture, so here are a few things that have worked well for us:

1. TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT YOUR MISSION STATEMENT AND VALUES

Your mission statement and values are perhaps the most important statements in terms of determining culture. They lay out what your business is working towards and the cultural traits that allow you to get there. As a result, it is important that they accurately reflect the culture and goals of the company. All businesses are constantly changing, so in order to ensure that these statements are up to date, it is important to frequently reexamine them and make adjustments if necessary. In 2018, we did just that and found that our mission statement and core values did accurately reflect our culture, so we updated our brand, image, and logo to make sure they fit these statements.

2. hAVE SOME FUN!

We work hard, however, one of our core values is “Have FUN!” and we’ve found that this value has contributed greatly to our positive workplace environment and culture. We find that we can best serve our customers when we are enjoying ourselves as well, so by having fun, we ensure that we are both best serving our customers and creating a positive workplace environment. From ping pong tournaments to company parties, to providing world class sustainable packaging solutions, our ability to have fun means that we love coming to work.

3. foster workplace camaraderie 

Similar to having fun in the workplace, it is also important to foster a sense of camaraderie. Camaraderie can be defined by, “the quality of the intimacy (ability to be oneself), hospitality (socially friendly & welcoming atmosphere), and community (sense of family or team) among employees within the workplace.” Because camaraderie is involved in nearly every part of the workplace, from individuality to community, it is very closely tied with morale; a strong sense of camaraderie can boost morale and even mental health. While Felins fosters camaraderie in many ways, one of the main ways we do so is through weekly team lunches. We’ve found that the simple act of regularly sharing a meal together naturally builds, trust, opens the lines of communication and ultimately brings us all closer together.

4. ENCOURAGE COLLABORATION

Collaboration in the workplace is vitally important, as it also both encourages success and contributes to a great company culture. Collaboration helps to improve problem solving among employees, as communication becomes easier and creativity is encouraged. Further, collaboration helps to improve relationships among employees, as working to solve problems together through collaboration creates bonding. Finally, because collaboration improves communication, it leads to positivity and productivity in the workplace, which leads to a great culture. We have dedicated collaboration spaces in our building, where our teams can come to meet, collaborate, and problem solve.

We’re by no means perfect, but we are proud of our products, our team and the culture that we have built here at Felins.  If you would like to learn more about our sustainable packaging solutions or have an interest in joining our team, please contact us.  We would love to talk to you!

To recap, there are a multitude of ways to improve work culture, but many of them have to do with ensuring employees can work together in the best and most efficient ways. From camaraderie to collaboration, it’s a great idea to provide opportunities for employees to build interpersonal relationships in addition to the professional relationships that they already have. Finally, life is short, don’t be afraid to have fun!  Our incredible team is the cornerstone of our great culture. Meet our team and view our open positions to learn more about joining our team.