Growth can be exciting for an organization, especially for start-ups or small businesses operating in an extremely niche or competitive industry. However, a period of immense growth can also be challenging for their teams.
While rapid growth can be an exhilarating time for everyone within the small business, it can also pose challenges to maintaining a strong workplace culture. Growth can mean new team members, new processes, and evolving values that can sometimes cause confusion, disconnection, and even issues with retention.
Here, we explore how small businesses can maintain their culture while fostering growth by prioritizing open communication, recognizing employee achievements, and promoting proactive engagement.
Leading with open communication
Even through periods of rapid expansion, building and keeping a strong company culture begins with open communication. Team members should be aware of the small business’s trajectory and be given opportunities to celebrate wins and know about changes to processes or team structure before the changes occur.
When small businesses grow too quickly, it can be easy to get behind on communication and for messages to get lost amid the day-to-day hustle. As new team members are onboarded, messaging can change, and teammates can be left none the wiser without intentional communication.
To sustain effective communication, leaders and HR associates should make a point to communicate updates, changes, and news about new hires as soon as possible. Key messages and values should be repeated frequently so all team members know that these aspects remain evergreen.
For communication to be as effective and widespread as possible, company leadership must set processes for communicating changes, wins, or other pertinent information. Regular team meetings, in-house newsletters, and one-on-one check-ins with leaders are necessary for keeping the small business’s approach to communication standardized.
Open communication should also be encouraged among all team members. When a small business grows rapidly, it may feel like some issues get lost or become less important. Employees should feel empowered to keep the lines of communication open, reinforcing a sense of importance and belonging for all team members.
Proactive salary reviews and reward systems
Retaining top talent as the small business grows is crucial, which is why regular comprehensive salary reviews are essential to retaining top talent and remaining competitive. These reviews ensure that compensation packages are aligned with the market and are attractive enough to bring in top talent — and keep them.
Roles can also shift and evolve during periods of rapid growth. Regular salary reviews ensure that workers who take on more responsibilities beyond their job descriptions are properly recognized and compensated for their contribution to the business’s growth.
Employees need to feel their contributions are being noticed and rewarded beyond base compensation. As your small business grows, offer bonuses, flexible work arrangements, time off, or public recognition to employees who go above and beyond, helping stoke the fires of growth.
Check in with your staff
It can be easy to assume that an entire team is thrilled about expansion and growing alongside the small business. However, just like a duck that is seemingly swimming calmly across the pond yet furiously paddling underneath the surface, some employees may be struggling.
HR or leaders should conduct regular check-ins with employees to ensure that they are keeping up with their work tasks, taking necessary breaks, and not on the verge of burnout. They should take this time to evaluate workloads and the overall employee morale.
Leaders should also prioritize one-on-one time with their team so their employees feel seen and heard. Additionally, if those employees continue struggling, leaders should offer them resources for mental health help and a healthy work/life balance. No matter how much the organization grows, it should keep the value of recognizing and caring for each individual employee.
When trying to maintain a healthy workplace culture during rapid company growth, HR professionals and leaders within the small business must be intentional with their efforts to communicate, recognize team members, and show commitment to their staff. While periods of rapid growth can be very exciting, they can also be a pathway to burnout, dissatisfaction with jobs, and problems with retention.
Rapid growth should never come at the expense of team members’ mental health and happiness. Organizations need to develop strong values and allow those values to guide the creation of their culture, regardless of how much they grow. When employees understand that their company has their backs and will support the company values even as they grow, they will be more likely to stick with the company and support the growth at every stage.
Growth is the ultimate goal of any organization, no matter how small it starts. By maintaining solid values, promoting open communication, offering regular recognition, and staying attuned to the mental health needs of the team, organizations can foster rapid growth and widespread employee satisfaction.
Tiffani Martinez is the human resources director at Otter Public Relations. She excels at putting the “human” back into “Human Resources.” Her passion is in conflict management, where she strives to take in all perspectives, ensuring all parties are respected and heard with fairness and empathy.
Photo Courtesy of Getty Images via Unsplash+
