How do you share your company culture with new employees?

In my experience I refer to culture as "the way we are taught to be in the world". The best candidate and future employee for your company is the person who aligns with that "way of being". Identify what that looks like for your company. This can be gathered from employee survey data, and other focused efforts to collect employee engagement and experience then developed into a company culture statement. Your culture statement should be woven throughout every aspect of your hiring and onboarding process. if done effectively, will be verbalized, felt and seen by candidates every step helping them align with your culture and know your company is right for them.

At Telia we already introduce our values in the recruitment process, so you can decide if our culture resonates with you. We introduce our new colleagues to our culture in our digital pre-boarding, so you can get more familiar with our purpose, values, strategy and what we stand for. We believe that our culture and values need to be an integrated part in everything you we do and that a strong culture is key to our success. We have a mandatory culture training for all our people and you will find our purpose, values and leadership expectations embedded in all our touchpoint from new joiners meetup to leadership programs. Repetition is key and in the end it's all about how we together decide to act and do things around here.

For us, we want people to feel part of us as soon as possible. We do several things…connect them to our slack channel, get them on calls and find out more about their passions. A whole person is who we hire.

The interview process is the first step. The old adage. ‘How we do one thing is how we do everything else, ‘ leads what comes next. From ‘Moment #1. You are branding your culture by the presence you uphold, pausing and being reflective and inquisitive. Each word, expressed thought and minuscule actions in that interview process reaffirms exactly the culture you wish to ignite, continue and rally for. Each employee is a microcosm of your brand thus culture.

Company culture is basically the people around you when you enters an enterprise, their behaviors, their actions let you know what they are as a company, so when we greet someone newly inducted, we try to be as much natural as we are because culture is not something you fake or impose on some one, its genuinely your normal way of living in a company like people live by their customs in a country or land same way people are to a company. we try to be as much natural as we are and our actions, our behaviors usually reflect what we are as a company. in our orientations we tell our new inductions who we are what we want to do and most important, our culture. we believe in collective responsibility, integrity & trust and continuous improvement.

Building the culture prior to onboarding is one of the most challenging aspects of true HR management. Our role is to provide the opportunity for our peers to financially care for their obligations, while fostering an environment that drives “work-place family”. It’s not impossible to find now, just improbable for many to achieve.

This is the most crucial step. Waiting until after day one means someone is going in blind when it comes to cultural alignment. Spend time first understanding your actual culture (most companies cant actually articulate this), and then put time and effort into articulating that through careers pages, job descriptions and public handbooks. Focus not only on what your values are but what behaviours you associate with that and also which ones you don't want to see. Be clear about not only compelling talent, but also repelling.

As a leader, I prioritize sharing our company culture during onboarding using engaging presentations, team-building activities, and mentorship programs. I integrate our values into daily practices and communication, celebrating success and fostering a culture of appreciation. Workshops and feedback channels promote transparency and continuous improvement. Embracing a growth mindset, I prioritize learning from setbacks and drive a positive work environment where new employees feel valued and motivated to contribute.

Training and development formats should also reflect the company's values. Collaboration is important? Create spaces where staff members can share best practices or problem solve together. Want folks to be innovative? Set aside time for hack-a-thons or similar problem solving circles.

Our company is built on innovation. To solve problems we look for people who can hold paradoxes and work across disciplines. We also believe that a certain amount of conflict is tied to creativity of solutions so we manage that.

Collaborative Projects: We engage new hires in collaborative tasks and activities. Working side by side with seasoned team members helps them understand our work processes and builds camaraderie and trust. This practical approach offers a firsthand experience of our teamwork ethic.

It's important to remember that not everyone receives recognition the same and that for some, being singled out with public recognition is uncomfortable. Leaders need to know their employees well enough to know what recognition is motivating them or not. Don't know yet? Asking for permission to share publicly, after privately commending and appreciating their contribution, is a great way to learn!

Simple day to day actions like emoji reactions on comms tools like Slack to give peer-to-peer kudos, and also a quarterly cadence of values based awards to recognise specific role-modelling of your values helps.

All leaders must model a culture that creates an authentic sense of belonging and leads to psychological safety for all. Additionally, it’s so critical that individuals see leaders exhibit empathy and compassion.

Rule #1. Don't pick values and behaviours that you can't role model yourself as a leader. If you do, you'll fail to live up to these and culture will head in the wrong direction. Pick values and behaviours that work for you, that you can live by easily, and that will filter down.

Model the culture. PERIOD POINT BLANK. As a leader within the learning and development space, I can emphatically say the easiest way to help new employees adopt the culture is to model the behavior. In the onboarding programs I oversee, we ask leaders to not only model the behavior but through the first few weeks we ask new employees to call out when they see the behaviors in action. This practice helps us to reinforce not only the words we use to describe the culture but also the actions that demonstrate the culture.

Living Our Philosophy and Values: We believe that culture isn't just about what we say; it's about what we do. We consistently reinforce our philosophy and values through actions, ensuring new employees see and experience the values we uphold in their work environment.

Sharing your company culture with new employees is crucial for a strong team. Culture reflects values, vision, and collaboration. But it's not easily conveyed through handbooks. Here's how: 1. Foster social connections: New hires bonding with peers builds trust and belonging. Organize events, virtual meetups, or team-building activities. 2. Lead by example: Showcase cultural values in your actions. Whether it's transparency or collaboration, live it daily. 3. Provide continuous feedback: Regularly discuss cultural fit and progress. Encourage open conversations. 4. Create a mentorship program: Pair new hires with experienced employees. It boosts learning and integration.

In our unique social environment, we kick-start each week with two collaborative sessions: one for aligning on activities and another for team support requests. As the week concludes, we spend 30 minutes on engagement games centred around team interests, market trends, and weekly highlights. These practices balance productivity and relaxation, ensuring our team stays informed, engaged, and connected.

Exit interviews of employees leaving (on good, neutral or bad terms) are also great chances to get feedback that should be seized upon to improve employee experiences.

Biggest mistake companies make is soliciting feedback and then NOT actioning it. If you dont intend on actioning, don't ask for it. It just creates more frustration, and destroys psychological safety. Overtime people will stop giving you that feedback.

Create different sources for the feedback to flow through from employees. Ensure your culture balances thoughtful analysis with timely response. Timeliness, transparency and sharing the "why" goes a long way when soliciting and acting on feedback.

Living and breathing the values and behaviors from the bottom to the top is essential to a company's success. Just because there are established values and behaviors doesn't mean they won't evolve over time. Feedback from those junior to you, peers, and supervisors is integral to the process of constant growth and change. The people make the company, so the people should have input on what is the cornerstone of the concept. What is important to you and how can we uphold those values? The only constant is change and we must be proactive rather than reactive to stay ahead in the game.

When new employees join an organisation, they not only need to get familiar with the work they have been hired to do. Learning how to fit in is just as critical to their success as it impacts how others help, guide, support and welcome them. It is this effort to fit in that determines whether they learn that whether the espoused culture is the actual culture or just the one that people talk about but don't live.