One of the lessons I learned from my previous employer is that there are two kinds of customers: external, the ones that we all strive to serve on a daily basis, and internal -- our co-workers, our superiors, our direct reports. One of the components to my annual review would be how well I took care of those internal customers: did I respond to their requests for help, did I make sure they had all of the relevant info that they needed from me when I would ask them for help, was I friendly and sociable?
What I've found is that, as both a supervisor and a supervisee, the way those internal customers are taken care of is a direct result of your company culture. Do you promote a spirit of cooperation among your team? Do your team members feel as if they have a critical role to play in your company's success?
Do your employees even recognize what constitutes your company culture? I'll be honest and say that I never gave the concept much thought until recently, but once I articulated it in my head and began to realize all the great things that define the team at NOW Marketing Group, well, it was I really began to understand just how great of a place this is to work.
I spoke with a few members of our team to see how our culture has spoken to them. Each person had their own unique perspective, but there were some underlying themes: family; supportive; connected; customer driven; creative.
Everyone at NOW Marketing works from home at least part of the week. You would think this might lead to a sense of disconnect, but technology actually allows us to feel more connected to our co-workers -- while still maintaining an excellent work/life balance. Any team member is just a phone call, text message, or Chatter post away.
But beyond that, our Account Management team has another way of staying connected: Workout Wednesdays. Each week they meet at Anytime Fitness to "get our creative juices flowing" through team building. Afterwards, they head back to the NOW office to spend time helping each other learn and grow through collaboration and the sharing of ideas.
We're supportive of each other too. Whether through encouraging words or acts of kindness, NOW Marketing truly is a family. Our mission to serve our customers works so well because its backed by not just one person, but an entire group of individuals all working together to help our clients be found, be social, and be useful. If one member goes on vacation or is sick, another member steps right in so that not only is our customer service seamless, but also so that the missing employee knows that someone else has their back.
Creativity is encouraged, and through team building we help each other fine tune our skill sets. Ultimately, NOW Marketing is place to where we not only want your business to succeed, but each other as well -- and have fun while working too!
To help your business succeed, its worth noting that we don't view this as a "9-5" job. Sure, there are hours to where we tend to work more frequently ("business hours"), but every team member at NOW has had at least 1 late night to where they work well beyond the traditional 9-5. But that's one of the beauties of working from home: while there may not necessarily be defined lines between work and life, the ability to work when the job needs to be done and not in a rigid office environment allows us to consistently go above and beyond for our clients.
Staying cutting edge is necessary in this ever-evolving workplace. We might do things a little bit different at NOW Marketing Group, but that's okay -- because ultimately we all enjoy what we do. Like I said: we're family here, and when your employees don't really feel like they're working (even though they are) -- that's when you know you've created the perfect company culture!
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