We know, culture is such a buzzword that it’s almost become cliché. A simple Google search will yield hundreds of articles about how to create a fun and productive culture. Well, we skipped over those articles and went directly to the companies and people in town who are making their business a great place for their employees, as well as their bottom line.
TWENTY BELOW COFFEE CO.
By Ali Burke, Czar of the Bar
Twenty Below’s mission has always been about people. The coffee is important, but our primary objective is to use it as a catalyst through which we cultivate community and make people feel valued. The value we place on people extends to both our patrons and our staff team alike. A company can run as a well-oiled machine—working in tandem and serving effectively—when well-maintained and cared for. Here are a few frugal ways we at Twenty Below care for that machine.
1. PEOPLE OVER PROFIT It goes without saying that a business needs profit to continue its existence, but what often goes unsaid and overlooked is that a greater importance exists. At Twenty Below, we strive not only to tell our employees that we value them but also to show it. We do this through our daily Community Lunch Hour, where we put coffee-making operations on hold at noon to allow everyone a break (which often includes some friendly table games); through potluck lunch Fridays, where both employees and customers contribute food to a communal meal; and through being closed on Sundays to offer a day of rest. These times of closure could surely be bringing in more money if we opened, but we value the times of rest they give our employees. We value the people over the profit.
2. FUN FUND A recent addition to Twenty Below, the Fun Fund is a pool of management’s tip money that’s used to fund something that the whole staff will enjoy (e.g., a pizza party or a camping trip.) So instead of management pocketing the tips accrued while they work on the coffee bar, it was unanimously agreed upon to put that money toward something that would benefit everyone.
3. NON-WORK STAFF FUN TIMES We’ve found that our team feels most connected and rejuvenated when we spend time together outside of work engaging in fun activities. For us, this looks like picnics in the park, campfires, movies together, grill outs, and, most recently, camping. Our annual staff camping trip just took place, and it was a blast! Living life together and building our relationships is undoubtedly worth the effort.
4. SNAP CUP Based on a sparkly idea from “Legally Blonde”, our team has a Slack channel dedicated to encouraging and uplifting one another with praise and warm fuzzies. Praise that’s unspoken is no praise at all, and our aim is to ensure that each employee is valued, that hard work never goes unappreciated or overlooked.
5. OPEN COMMUNICATION, SOLICITED FEEDBACK AND VALUED OPINIONS A complaint commonly associated with job dissatisfaction is that employees don’t feel heard or listened to. We hope that’s never a complaint associated with our company. In order for our leadership team to avoid this blunder, we encourage direct communication, quarterly employee reviews, and an open feedback loop where employees are encouraged to ask questions and poke holes in our ideas rather than remain silent with discomfort.
OFFICE SIGN COMPANY
By Jack Yakowicz, Marketing Manager
When I first applied for a job at Office Sign Company, I knew nothing about signs. In fact, I hardly knew anything about what Office Sign Company did (I suppose the name of the company was a bit of a giveaway, but still, I had no idea). I found out about Office Sign Company at the 2015 FMWF Chamber Luncheon. I was working for a different company at the time, and Office Sign Company ended up winning “Small Business of the Year”. Listening to Ryan’s (Fritz, founder) speech, and viewing the slideshow of images playing behind him, I was pretty amazed by how culture- centric this young company seemed.
For companies that are budget-conscious, it may seem even more difficult to obtain the culture that your employees are yearning for. Trust me, that is just a misconception, and any money you do spend on culture is well-spent. Here are a few low-cost initiatives that we implement in our company to ensure that our culture is accounted for and that our employees are happy.
1. POTLUCKS We like to eat. Why not reward that with a potluck? Our team of creative employees has quite a bit of culinary skill, and we love to see what each person can bring to the table. We’ve celebrated potlucks for holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving but also for everything from new hires to Star Wars appreciation. You should have seen the Chewbacca cake that Nate brought. The keg in our downtown location only makes these potlucks even more enjoyable.
2. BEING RESPONSIVE TO FEEDBACK An important learning lesson is that culture should be led by every individual within the company, not just those at the top. That way, everyone’s voice is heard and events are being planned that benefit the entire group. For this reason, every week we pose a random question to our team on a platform that allows them to reply anonymously. This ensures that we get the most-honest feedback from our team, and we can incorporate great ideas from every single person. Oftentimes, these ideas that are brought to light by employees end up being put in place.
3. OFFICE OLYMPICS In August, we held our OSClympic games. Our two locations came together at Gooseberry Park in Moorhead to compete in the first annual OSClympics, and it was an absolute blast. We shut down at 1:30 on a Thursday afternoon, put on our uniforms and headed over to compete. Six teams played games such as water balloon dodgeball, touch football, team relay and more. Regardless of athletic skill, everyone had an awesome time coming together as a unit, and our medal ceremony at the end of it really capped things off well.
4. CULTURE-BASED SOFTWARE At Office Sign Company, we use specific software in-house to help boost culture. TinyPulse, for example, is used to send “Cheers for Peers” to individuals in various teams that went the extra mile and helped each other out. Podio, our internal social media, is used to post events, customer testimonials, jokes and other musings from our days at the office. These really help to create a further sense of togetherness among our team members, especially now that we are split between two separate locations.
EIDE BAILLY
By Katie Hutton, Marketing Manager | Photos courtesy of Eide Bailly
Eide Bailly LLP is a top 25 CPA firm in the nation, headquartered right here in Fargo. The home office houses almost 300 staff, including the firm’s administration team. Eide Bailly’s list of services boasts both compliance (we’re talking audit and tax) and consulting services (health care consulting, technology, forensics, outsourced CFO services and more) to help clients succeed.
Equally important to the firm is the well-being of its staff. Eide Bailly was recently named one of the “50 Best Places to Work” by Prairie Business. The firm’s culture is the foundation of what it does, and that includes having fun along the way.
1. CELEBRATE SPECIAL OCCASIONS IN UNIQUE WAYS Following the recent promotion of one of our staff members, email “challenges” were sent out daily for a week celebrating different milestones and accolades leading up to her promotion. Even simpler, we recently had another staff member get engaged. We celebrated by giving her the opportunity to share her engagement story over coffee and water at the water cooler. Making employees feel appreciated goes a long way toward creating a positive company culture.
2. GET MOVING With more employees wearing technology to get fit, try incorporating challenges into your workspace. Eide Bailly’s Health Smart Committee created charts for staff to record their activity or steps for the week. Winners were chosen on a weekly basis and, in turn, received a health-themed reward. Creating motivation coupled with friendly competition all while bettering our health and wellness!
3. CREATE FUN CHALLENGES Setting and achieving goals plays an important role in a business’ success. Set a goal and the team that achieves that goal first receives coffee or lunch. Food can be inexpensive but incredibly motivating. But you can even take it a step further and have fun with the type of work you do. Annually, Eide Bailly holds a 10-key challenge, allowing anyone to participate in a March Madness-themed bracket for the fastest and most accurate 10-key skills. The winner receives (we’re not joking) a golden 10-key. Plus, staff fill out brackets and there is a prize awarded to the person who gets closest to guessing the correct bracket.
4. MAKE FUN EASY Create a culture where there’s not just work but also play. At Eide Bailly, our breakroom contains foosball and air hockey tables along with gaming equipment. It doesn’t have to cost money or take time away from work either. We have an annual Halloween costume contest and “Festive” holiday sweater days to ensure we keep it light yet fun.
5. GO FOR A WALK Allowing your staff to conduct meetings outside of the office allows for collaboration and a change of scenery. At Eide Bailly, our professionals are often seen walking the paths around the building together or grabbing lunch and coffee. Getting out of the office has proven to increase motivation and boost morale.
STONERIDGE SOFTWARE
By Leah Bake | Photos by Paul Flessland, Stoneridge Software
1. CONSISTENT & EFFICIENT MEETINGS What? Another meeting? Meetings might not sound like an innovative way to assist in establishing a great culture. But, with two offices 300 miles apart and many employees that work from home, it’s how we connect as a company and ensure that everyone is kept abreast of what’s happening. We have regular all-company team meetings every Friday. The team gathers in conference areas in our Barnesville and Minneapolis offices and anyone working from home or not in the office calls in. We start each meeting with employee recognition for demonstrating our company values. Business and project updates are covered as well as good news, best practice stories, company reminders and a Q & A session – all in 20 minutes. Each manager also has a recurring periodic one-on-one with each of their team members to check in, discuss goals and address concerns. Departmentally, each team has a periodic “Level 10” meeting to cover what’s happening across the team in a broader sense. These meetings are strategic in focus and follow a consistent format, keep everyone informed and head off any issues before they become problems.
2. BEER & PIZZA Nothing brings people together like food. We have a standing Thursday date at noon at the local pool hall. Everyone knows this is the day when the entire team goes to lunch together. Those who work from home or in other offices often make an effort to stop in on Thursdays to make sure they have the chance to hang out with the team. We also hold summer grill-outs and themed potlucks. A few fun potluck themes we’ve enjoyed: bacon, soup and Oktoberfest.
3. OFFICEVIBE (OR ANY ANONYMOUS FEEDBACK GATHERING TOOL) Everyone has a voice and wants to be heard but not everyone has the courage to speak up at the office. We use a web-based tool called Officevibe, which sends out a short weekly questionnaire to each person to answer anonymously. Any effort to provide this option in a company would be valuable, even if it were a piece of paper in a suggestion drop. Providing a channel for anonymous feedback gives everyone a voice and gives the company leadership a chance to keep a pulse on the morale of the team. We have gotten very valuable feedback from the team and use the reporting features of the software to identify areas we need to dedicate time and resources to.
4. WELLBEING A well-received effort has been our focus on employee well-being. Our Healthy Dynamics committee sponsors a different “challenge” each quarter to encourage weight loss, physical activity, healthy eating or meditation. It encourages the team to be mindful of our health and provides a little friendly office competition. Healthy snacks are stocked for purchase and company-sponsored meetings must always include a healthy option. Employees appreciate that the company cares about each person’s physical and mental health and not just their output at the office.
5. RECOGNITION Gratitude goes a long way and it’s 100 percent FREE. Our company has a “Kudos” page on our SharePoint site where team members can enter in their thanks or congrats for a coworker’s job-well-done. New entries are highlighted at the weekly all-company team meetings. Work anniversaries are recognized each quarterly company meeting. And our annual company meeting features the “Stoneys,” which are peer-nominated nonsense awards such as “Most likely to leave the water cooler empty” and “Most understanding of millennials.” Some of these are a well-placed pat on the back and the others encourage light-hearted fun.

The post 19 Cheap Ways To Improve Company Culture appeared first on Fargo Monthly.