Building a Community Within Your Organization

Company culture has been a hot topic in recent years and it’s clear that “culture” is more than a buzzword. Company culture builds the foundation for hiring and reflects the goals of an organization. Company culture provides guidelines to help build a team of people to collectively accomplish goals. Having a defined company culture is extremely important and building upon company culture to create a sense of community within your team, group or organization has many long-term benefits as well!

Since Q Consulting was established 4 years ago, we have built the team (or the “Q Crew” as we lovingly call it) from the ground up.  While building out the team, emphasis and attention were placed on hiring to match our company culture and our core values of Excellence, Respect, Integrity and Collaboration. Once the team was established, we started to build the community internally. In the start-up world, like any growth-focused organization, we are consistently vigilant about what it takes to expand as an organization. With a laser-focus on driving business and growth, I’ve witnessed just how important building a sense of community within the company has been.

There are many benefits to building a community within your organization. One multifaceted way that Q has been successful in building community within the team is through involvement in the local community. We honor our core value of Integrity (being ethical and giving back) by planning volunteer events and encouraging everyone to attend. This involvement has not only encouraged team building, it has given team members experiences they wouldn’t encounter in the working day.

Contributing to and giving back to the local community has several impactful outcomes. Some we’ve experienced include:

Building a Strong Team: Most volunteering opportunities involve some aspect of teamwork. It allows the team to harness their strengths in a setting other than the office. 
Meaningful Work:
Building a community within your organization is an extension of company culture. Employees are motivated by having purpose, providing value, and doing meaningful work. Giving your team the opportunity to do so at work will increase their involvement and retention rates.
Local Involvement:
Directly impacting the local community is instantly gratifying and connects employees to the community they work in. If your team is national/global, it’s especially important to be involved in the community where your team operates.
Employees Gain New Experiences:
Allowing employees to gain new experiences as a group helps build and grow the community within the organization. Such involvement can mimic that of being involved in sports in school or organizations in college.
Demonstrating Values.
Many companies have a set of values and some companies truly act on those values. Leading by example and dedicating time to core values can also help attract and hire people whose values align.

There are many ways to build community within your organization and the benefits to doing so are profound. The Q Crew has found volunteering and giving back a great way to create a cohesive community. Employees love the change of pace and connecting with the local community.  Putting your company core values into action combined with team building has outstanding organization benefits.

Are you ready to build a community within your own organization? The first step is getting involved! Some of the local organizations Q Consulting partners with include Feed My Starving Children, People Serving People, First Covenant Church, Good in the Hood, Ronald McDonald House.