Company Culture: an ever-present, yet often neglected part of every business. 

While growing the company may be the primary objective of any organisation, looking after and nurturing the well-being of the people who work there becomes crucial. At Flash, putting culture on the back-burner was never an option. In fact, it has become a central part of our operations. We have become so intentional about this culture we cultivate that we have even gone to the lengths of appointing a qualified individual whose job it is to shape, develop and manage it.

Enter, Chelsea Saharin. Our in-house Culture and Engagement Specialist who has a passion for people and business in equal measure. Chelsea is a qualified Industrial Psychologist who knew those strategies needing to be implemented in order to transform our company culture from a good to a great one. Chelsea views culture as the personality of the business – it’s the “way we do things around here” and it’s important because employees are more likely to enjoy their time in the workplace when they feel like their values align with the company.

Chelsea joined the business last year and, believes that the work we do has helped to directly and positively impact our culture. “When people come in, they feel a strong sense of purpose because the work that we do directly impacts our community – it helps to improve and uplift them.” Chelsea believes that a big part of this is owing to the company’s bottom-up approach. “We went to the employees and asked them to tell us what values they thought guide how we do things at Flash.” By doing this, employees felt like their personal values are being recognised.

From culture training to employee development, there are many instances where Chelsea has positively helped build our employees and the culture at Flash. However, if nothing else, her biggest legacy to the business would have to be the annual design and management of Flash Club. Similar to most loyalty rewards programs, Flash Club requires employees to meet their monthly goals in order to be compensated. There are many ways employees can reach these monthly targets, however, each relates to what we refer to “living our values”, which include having each others’ backs, being all in and being brave.

When asked what other businesses can do in order to cultivate a healthy culture, Chelsea had the following to say:

1. Identify the source of the toxicity and understand what the root cause of the problem is.
2. Articulate what type of culture your business wants to cultivate and identify what you are going to put in place in order to help employees thrive.
3. Ensure you foster a leadership team that role-models the right behaviour i.e. a strong and reliant team that understands the importance of culture so that it filters down through the company.

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https://flash.co.za/chelsea-on-culture-developing-our-people/

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