3 STEPS TO CREATE A HEALTHY WORK CULTURE
How does your culture evolve as your team and operations expand?
by Krystal Speed
THE BEST TEAMS ARE MADE UP OF A MIXTURE OF SKILLS, BACKGROUNDS, AND EXPERIENCES THAT COMBINE UNDER ONE COMMON MISSION AND GOAL. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING WHEN DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES, WORK STYLES, PERSPECTIVES, AND TALENTS COME TOGETHER COHESIVELY.
When my team (Your HR Strategist – a team of HR consultants) and I joined the Rebellion team last year, it was to help the then-5-employee team prepare to triple in size. We were moving from a planning phase to execution, starting the work of plugging orphan wells in our home state.
Now, it is important to consider that with even one new employee hire, team dynamics and company culture can change significantly. As individuals adapt to each other’s work styles, preferences, and the integration of a new team member, it can be tough to manage. But add 10 people in a very short period, and you are bound to experience some level of growing pains.
So, how have we managed significant growth in both operations and personnel while nurturing a healthy work culture?
Three actions are key to us growing well – and still hold true as we settle into our new team size and plan for more growth in the future.
1. Getting clear on our mission, vision, and values.
Having a clear foundation to ground your people and company is key in establishing a sustainable business and when preparing to scale. The good news was that when my team and I joined Rebellion, they were already engaged in the work of clearly defining who they are as a company, the impact they are working to have in communities, the problem they solve, and why this work is critical.
Clarity around your organizational “why” is important as it defines what you do and for whom, and the ideal future state you are trying to achieve as a company. Just as important is the establishment of the values that are central to your organization.
All these elements, when clearly defined, can provide the guardrails needed when making decisions and engaging in your daily work. I knew that if we were going to grow our team well, and attract and keep great talent to help bring our mission to life, it meant leading with our values and our mission. This helped us attract, hire, and engage highly skilled individuals who even more importantly are values and mission-aligned, a key ingredient for thriving as employees, teams, and a company.
2. Living out our values while executing your mission.
Nurturing a work culture that centers (and is informed by) our mission, vision, and values is key to building a workplace where our people can thrive. It isn’t enough to simply get clear on the mission, vision, and values.
The next step, which takes time, intentionality, and commitment, is to integrate these elements into your company culture and to daily live them out.
I’ve found from my work with dozens of businesses, the best outcomes are realized when these elements guide you in making informed and smart decisions. Deciding who you hire, what goals individuals and teams set, the work you prioritize and undertake, policies, processes, and practices that are adopted, all spring from and should be in alignment with these grounding and foundational elements.
Let me be clear, this is a process where we are continually improving. It means leaning into being vulnerable, open, and honest in addressing both the healthy and not-so-healthy ways that our company culture is evolving. Staying curious about where things can be improved or optimized. Identifying processes and practices that aren’t allowing us to bring our best selves to work each day and collaboratively seeking solutions to do better. Each of these, when engaged by each member of our team, is helping us to grow and evolve individually and collectively.
Because we are all passionate about our mission, that commitment helps us to lean into the harder conversations (it isn’t easy and again, it is a process, but we are taking the needed steps to engage it earlier and more often).
It’s exciting to start trying out strategies and tools that help us communicate more effectively and incorporating multiple feedback touchpoints to uncover some of our individual and collective blind spots.
3. Learning and iterating as we build.
Are we doing things perfectly as a team each day? Absolutely not! But we are trying.
Because company culture is constantly evolving and our values are regularly tested when encountering new challenges, making decisions, and interacting in our daily work it means we must learn, adapt, and at times try a different approach. That’s normal and healthy practices for any team, no matter how big or small, stage of development or how long they’ve been together.
A good perspective that keeps us grounded as we grow is “What are we learning and how can we be better as a result?”. After all, this is what it means to be a Rebel!
Our core values that we are seeking to live out daily are:
● Rebellious Individuality: Our work culture encourages you to bring your true self to the table.
● Authentic Communication: We nurture an open and honest team environment that allows you to share transparently in the spirit of collaboration and problem-solving, while also holding space and listening to others with the intent of understanding and finding common ground.
● Unlimited Collaboration: The issues we seek to solve are often layered and impact communities. To find sustainable and just solutions, everyone is welcome, always.
● Creative Thinking: Working in an emerging industry it is essential that you are comfortable being uncomfortable.
● Genuine Solutions: Don’t focus on why we can’t, rather on finding a way we can.
These values have been and will continue to be, our building blocks for a healthy work culture. By remaining aligned and true to them, we can realize our goal of creating high-quality, durable and meaningful carbon credits for our partners.
This commitment helps us remain diligent in nurturing an inclusive work environment, fosters a sense of belonging, and works to create a workplace where every Rebellion Energy Solutions employee can thrive.
That may mean we don’t always get it right. Yet we are committed to trying every day to do better and learn as we go, as a team.
