Melisa Morrison Archives - American Quilt Retailer

Every business has company culture, whether they realize it or not. Creating a strong culture within your work environment is essential to your company’s success. Read on for the four components that create great culture.

Vision

The daily grind is difficult to get through but one thing always shines through—vision.

Creating and sharing the company’s purpose to your staff can help them share in that vision. Consider asking your employees how they can support the company’s vision and one thing they can do differently to achieve it.

Values

It’s important your company values align with your employee’s values. If your company doesn’t have values, here is an easy way to create them.

During your next all-hands meeting, set aside 15-30 minutes to brainstorm what values matter in the workplace. Write every value you hear down. Once you’ve exhausted options, have your employees write down their top 3-5 of the values. Tally the results on your own time, then share the values voted on by you and your employees during your next all-hands meeting!

(Note, some values may emerge in overarching themes. For example, teamwork could also be described as collaboration, unity, combined effort, and more.)

Practices

Establish sound practices and rid your business of inconsistencies. Keep the door open with your employees to share inconsistencies, and be prepared to determine better workflows.

People

Leverage your employees strengths to increase company culture. When your employees are happy, productivity increases, and is a win-win for both parties.

Inspiration for this post came from “Create a Winning Team” by Melisa Morrison published in the August 2022 issue of American Quilt Retailer. Morrison has over 30 years of experience in Human Resources and is a former quilt shop owner. Stay tuned next week on ways to communicate employee expectations.

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At-Will Disclaimer

Disclaimers are important. A great disclaimer to start with is the disclaimer that the intent of the handbook is not to be an employee contract.

Another disclaimer to include is the at-will disclaimer. Every state assumes private employment is at-will. (In some states however, employees are at-will for only the first six-months). Therefore, your handbook should include an at-will disclaimer that hits on the below points:

Employment is at-will and may be terminated any time for any legal reason. This applies to both the employee and the employer.

The intention of the employee handbook is not to be a contract of employment.

The at-will nature of employment may not be modified by any oral or written statement made before or after employment.

The company reserves the right to amend or change the policies at its discretion with or without notice to employees.

NLRA Protected Activity Disclaimer

The purpose of the National Labor Relations Act is to protect collective bargaining rights of employees. This disclaimer can get tricky, but the main thing to remember is this disclaimer can help clarify that nothing in the handbook restricts employees from discussing their wages, hours, or other working conditions.

In summary, the most important thing about a handbook is to keep it current. A fabulous resource is the Society for Human Resource Management, specifically their resource library on HR law.

Inspiration for this post came from “Employee Handbook 2.0: Aligning Your Policies With Employment Laws,” by Melisa Morrison, published in the April 2022 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

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Creating Company Culture