It doesn’t matter whether your alarm monitoring company has thousands of employees and accounts to manage, or if your company consists of you and another employee, establishing a good culture is the only way to grow successfully. It is the most important factor that propels your company forward. A good company culture gives your employees a sense of purpose, and provides them all the reason they need to work hard for your company and business, without question.
What makes a good company culture? We can tell you it’s a bit more complex than free lunch every other week, and ping-pong tables in the office. Sure, it’s good and important to have fun, but culture is tied much more to the company's values rather than perks. Let’s take a look how you can build a good company culture for your business.
Culture is knowing that regardless of where you are on the company ladder, you can speak up to your superiors about new ideas you might have. It is the beacon that guides behavior in the office. It’s about feeling important, respected, cared for, and like your contributions make a difference, not only in the office, but in the world. Creating a good company culture starts with your company’s purpose.
Defining a purpose for why your company does what it does sets the precedent for your company culture. For an alarm company, your purpose might be protecting families. While that is true, think beyond that – “why” does your company do that? “What” or “who” does your business serve? When you get to the core of the “why, what, who,” you can create a message that inspires employees to work for your company, and to stay for years to come.
This should be more than a value statement that you hang on the walls in the office. Values are your alarm company’s core beliefs and principles by which every single employee in the company needs to abide. For example, if “continuous education” is a core value in your alarm company, your CEO should invest in the best training possible for your technicians and sales people. Regular training on new systems, and new techniques for sales people will not only keep you employees sharp, but provide them the tools to succeed with your company, or later in their careers.
Let’s say one of your values is “personal accountability.” If your boss never answers calls, or always shows up late to service calls or meetings, that spreads the message that the value isn’t being upheld, and that kind of behavior can spread quickly.
Another value could be “open-door innovation,” which tries to encourage all employees to share their ideas, no matter their rank or position. There are plenty of companies that preach this type of thinking, but plenty of employees wouldn’t dream of walking into their bosses' office to pitch them an idea. If you aren’t going to “walk the walk” when it comes to your core values, your company culture will not empower or inspire employees.
Hiring the right people can be a tricky process, but it can be crucial to building and maintaining a positive company culture in your alarm business. A bad employee can cost your company money, and sink productivity throughout your entire team. When a new employee knows and understands the values of the company, and buys into them, it can facilitate good company culture the moment they walk through the door on day one.
Work is more than just showing up to an office, putting in your eight hours, and going home. It’s often the place where you spend most of your day. The people you are surrounded by, and how you treat each other is vastly important. Showing that you care about your employees can create camaraderie within the workplace. Having a caring work environment will inspire employees to come in and do a good job. It reduces workplace stress, which improves performance.
For example, AvantGuard created the AG Cares Foundation to give back to employees, and the community. The foundation provides an employee program, which employees throughout the company can choose to donate as much as they want from their paycheck to the program. When someone is in need of financial help, for whatever the reason may be, money can be taken out of the fund and given to the employee, no questions asked. This type of program shows that AvantGuard truly cares for its employees, and it inspires them to work hard for the company.
Finally, it’s important to have some fun at work. It was mentioned at the beginning of this article that ping-pong tables and free lunches don’t make up a good company culture – but it definitely helps. Creating a company culture where team members feel like they can be themselves can do wonders. Employees spend a lot of time at work. It should be a place where they can have a little fun, too.
Creating a good company culture in your alarm monitoring company can improve your alarm business in every way. It can help your company recruit top talent, keep employees loyal and increase their job satisfaction, increase employees work performance, and help your company grow and succeed.
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AvantGuard Monitoring Centers, LLC. | P.O. Box 15022 | Ogden, UT 84415 | Office: (877) 206-9141 | Fax: (801) 781-6133