We’re still trying to work out the lyrics for Karma Chameleon from 1983, but if every day is like survival at the moment you might want to read on…

We’re talking company culture…how is it? Good, bad, indifferent? Perhaps it’s difficult to define right now as a result of the distractions of the last two years, remote teams and the online working environment. Wherever your culture is at, developing a strong, positive company culture is as important as having a good business strategy.

This month, Align People HR are delighted to have signed up for the BreatheHR Culture Pledge which encourages small businesses to proactively think about their culture and to develop a positive culture for their business. But how do you get started?

Firstly, you need a good set of company values. Values express why you do what you do, this is the basis of what your business is built on. Values steer the way you build your business through growth and drives employees’ behaviours and mindsets to reflect and grow the desired culture. A business culture is a consequence of its values.

When developing company values, ask the following questions - what is the business purpose? what do you want the business to be known for? what behaviours do you want to encourage from employees as to how they work for the business and contribute to its growth?

A great way to boost employee engagement is to ask your employees for their input and involve them in creating the values set. A worthy set of values fully integrated into a business will form the pillars and foundations of everything you do. They will provide a desired way of working for your employees and externally they will form part of your brand as a statement to customers and suppliers as to how you do business.

Once you have your values, tell everyone about them. Be proud of what your business stands for and share them with all employees, customers and stakeholders. Don’t just stick them on the website, bring them to life. Ensuring all business activity and initiatives are underpinned by the values is the best way to develop that positive business culture.

Other tips to grow a positive company culture:

• Celebrate successes – define what success looks like first and enjoy it with your team when you get it

• Be transparent – honesty is the best policy, it builds invaluable trust with your employees for strong employee engagement and a positive culture

• Embrace low points – things don’t always go well, talk to your employees about where things have gone wrong and take the learnings onboard together

• Do what you say – live up to your promises and do what you say you’re going to do

Once you’re in the Culture Club, having a strong positive culture will lead to a happy and engaged workforce, business resilience and sustainability.

As for the other Culture Club, what was Karma Chameleon all about anyway?

The song was written about karma that comes with trying to please everyone and not being true to yourself, wise words from Boy George indeed.