9 Ways To Build A Great Company Culture In Your Fashion Brand

Building a great company culture is as important as growing your fashion brand. Having the right company culture not only increases employee satisfaction rate, but it can also take your brand from zero to hundred quickly.

But first, what is company culture? 

What is Company Culture?

Your company culture is the personality of your brand. It is how your brand is perceived to be by your employees and customers and it greatly defines how your work environment will be like. 

Company culture is made up of a business’s mission, values, goals, ethics, and general work environment. It is the core of how things are run and done by everyone in an organisation.

Building a great company culture often translates into higher employee satisfaction and retention rates. This can prove to be great for your fashion brand.

Importance of Company Culture

1. Increased Job Satisfaction

When employees like their work, are happy with the people they work with and love their work environment, they are more likely to be satisfied with the job.

2. Increased Employee Productivity

With an increase in job satisfaction comes happiness. Happier employees are much more productive than disgruntled employees. When your fashion brand is filled with happy employees, your brand tends to move at a faster rate and begin to level up to and surpass competitors. 

3. Lower Turnover

When employees are happy where they are, they are more likely to stay. No one wants to abandon a great job in a great work environment for one that might not measure up to it. 

A lower turnover means that you will spend less money looking for new employees often and get to retain employees that both love their job and are good at it. 

4. Better Company Performance

When your employees are happy with their job and put their heart into doing the job right, your fashion brand is more likely to perform better than others. Also, your employees will be so loyal to your brand they will do above and beyond their regular job roles.

5. Better Image

When your employees love their job and don’t want to leave it, they tend to speak highly about your fashion brand. When their testimonies go out and reach the ears of potential clients, it tends to attract them to you. 

Everyone loves a brand that not only produces great products but also treats it’s people right. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. 

How to Build a Great Company Culture for Your Fashion Brand

1. Communicate The Values and Mission Of Your Fashion Brand

For your fashion brand’s company culture to be successful, it must be grounded in your company’s mission, vision, and core values. They are what drive all of your decision as a company. 

After you have defined your company mission, vision and core values, ask yourself how your culture can align with it. Do you want a laid-back and casual environment or a fast-paced and corporate one? Do you want to focus on professional development or on giving back to society? 

Figure out what is important to your brand, with the help of your employees, and what makes it special and build your culture around it. After this, ensure that all of your employees understand your company culture so they can imbibe it. 

2. Hire the Right Fit

Hiring the right staff for your fashion brand is not just about hiring those that have the right credentials. Sometimes, it is better to overlook those credentials and instead go for those who fit into your company culture. 

Also, attitude supersedes credentials and experience. So, you must look out for those that are willing to learn and move with your company culture than those that are skilled but set in their ways. 

Hiring people that fit into your company culture does not mean you should always hire people that think, look, talk, and act like everyone in your fashion brand. This can prove to be boring. Instead, also hire those that can enhance and even diversify your company culture in the right direction. 

3. Reward Great Performance 

Everyone loves some praise for a job well done. While it is great to give employees formal recognition and awards, it will be amazing to always show genuine appreciation for the hard work team members put into their work. 

Showing genuine appreciation does not have to be elaborate. You can imagine the culture of sending thank you notes to your employees for a job well done, pass across a compliment to one of your employees or any other small gesture, and encourage employees to do so too.

This will make your employees feel valued and respected and will drive employee satisfaction and productivity. 

4. Be Transparent

Transparency in any organisation is key. When you promote transparency in your fashion brand, it makes your employees trust you more and feel more involved in the brand.

When things are tough, let them know. You all can sit and analyse to decide on what to do next. Also, when your experience highs, celebrate them with your team. 

Let them know revenue goes up, there is an exciting achievement and when the business is growing. This makes them feel satisfied working with you. 

5. Do What You Say You Will Do

If you must build a strong company culture, you must practice what you preach. You cannot expect everyone to go along with the company culture if you don’t go along with it as well. 

When you promise something, deliver on it to avoid building a distrustful and disloyal culture. If you deliver on this, you will be required with happy employees and strong company culture. 

6. Get Employee Feedback

Never assume you know it all. Asking for the opinions of your employees in building a great company culture is important. Often go back to them and find out if things are working as they should and if they are happy with the job. 

Find ways, through employee engagement surveys and so on to understand how your employees feel about your fashion brand and its culture. 

Also, find ways to give your employees freedom so they also can be involved in top-level decisions and feel free to innovate. Always encourage your employees to realise you’re a team and not just a bunch of individuals. 

7. Take Care of Your Employees 

Your employees are very crucial to the growth of your fashion brand. You must take care of them. You must always find ways to encourage them and see that they are at their best physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Always look out for their needs and find ways to make the job easier and reduce stress on them. Never make them feel left out, listen to what they have to say and encourage them to be their authentic selves. 

Little gestures like surprising them on their birthdays, communicating with them, providing them with the tools, resources, and assistance they need can go a long way in making them love the job. 

All of these make your employees feel needed and encourages them to do better at work. 

8.  Get Social

Without great workplace relationships, there’s no way you can build a great company culture. For your culture to grow, your employees must know and interact with each other.

As a fashion entrepreneur, you need to create opportunities to foster workplace relationships between your employees. Whether it’s by happy hours, company outings, team meals, or a book club, your employees need to be given the space to interact to feel more comfortable around each other. 

Additionally, always promote a positive attitude in your fashion brand. From smiling to expressing gratitude and even remaining optimistic in bad situations, you have to find ways to always be positive and encourage it among staff members. 

9. Reiterate Core Values

Creating programs and initiatives to reinforce your core values is key to creating a great company culture. You can create a monthly, quarterly or yearly award to celebrate the employee that best embodies your core values. This award doesn’t even have to be a fancy one. 

Another way is to live those values out for your customers to see so they also understand what you stand for. 

The company culture of your fashion brand is key to the growth of your fashion brand and something you should definitely pay attention to.