If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from leading a company through a pandemic, it’s that organizational culture must be adaptable.

Culture isn’t the office complex where you work, the activities hosted by the company or even the people who lead the organization. It is built by the people in the organization – how they behave, what they believe and the attitudes they have that move the company forward.

As a company leader, my responsibility in building a strong company culture is to set objectives for the organization and lead our strategy. SkillPath employees are responsible for providing input to their managers so we’re sure our objectives are being met. And if they aren’t, then we have to adapt. 

This notion of adaptability became even more apparent to me when SkillPath moved from a traditional in-office company to a hybrid workplace. In the last two years, we’ve hired more remote employees than ever before, and although some of our employees have never met in person, they stay connected because they are committed to working toward our common goals.

If you’ve struggled with building your culture post-pandemic, here are some of my strategies that have worked for SkillPath – and they may work for you too.

 

Transparency in leadership

Resistance to change usually happens when people don’t understand why it’s needed. But they will accept it more easily when leaders explain why adjustments need to be made – and the benefits that from the changes.

Like many businesses, SkillPath abruptly made a digital transformation in a matter of days when our live, in-person training programs came to a screeching halt in March 2020. Although it was difficult at first, the organization now embraces a digital-first approach to business, and we have left many of our pre-pandemic processes and ways of doing business behind.

We couldn’t have done this without our employees accepting that we had to change our business practices so we could continue operating. Although the pandemic created unprecedented change, we also had to be upfront and honest about what we planned to do as we faced the unknown challenges ahead.

Listening to employee suggestions, responding to their needs and empathizing with their concerns made us all more successful in this challenging time.

 

Trust your employees

Although you may be afraid of how your employees will react to change, you have to be honest and transparent in your communication — and trust that the people in your organization will handle the information professionally.

For me, the easiest way to build trust with employees is to make a personal connection with them. By getting to know people on my team – and letting them get to know me – it makes us all feel like we are in this together.

I know that after we’ve built this relationship, when they talk to me and share their concerns or thoughts, they trust me enough to know that I will listen.

But more than getting to know your employees, you have to acknowledge their expertise. When I know their strengths and goals, I can encourage them to stretch themselves. This empowers employees to succeed, and it helps me trust that they will follow through on their projects.

 

Be proactive

As a leader, being proactive is more than trying to get ahead of workplace challenges. It’s identifying the risks on your team or in your business, then finding a way to reduce the impact of these risks.

Both SkillPath and our customers have made proactive steps to upskilling and reskilling our employees. The pandemic taught us that you can’t always predict what will happen, but you can be proactive in making sure your employees have the skills they need to move forward.

Providing training to upskill your current employees not only prepares you for the future, but it also builds a stronger culture.

We recently introduced some tools for people to evaluate their current skills. These free assessments have been taken by our employees to better understand themselves – and you can share with your employees too.

 

To develop the culture you want, you have to be adaptable – and being transparent, building trust and thinking ahead can help you get there.