How to create a positive company culture

A strong company culture doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built intentionally, consistently, and with your people at the center.

In this guide, we’ll explore the most common types of workplace cultures and how to shape one that works for your employees, your values, and your goals.

What’s the culture of a company?

Company culture is the personality of an organization. It’s the shared values, behaviors, and everyday practices that shape how people work and how they feel about working there. 

Every company has a culture, whether it’s carefully crafted or left to chance. And that culture plays a big role in how employees, customers, and the broader community experience your brand. 

In an intentionally designed culture, people understand what’s expected and what the organization stands for. Values are clear, behaviors align, and day-to-day interactions reflect the company’s identity.

But when you leave culture on autopilot, unspoken norms emerge. Sometimes those norms are harmless. When they’re not, mistrust and misalignment take hold, leading to disengagement, turnover, and a hit to your reputation. That’s when having a weak or toxic company culture can really start to cost you.

Common types of company culture

Company culture can take many forms, from collaborative and inclusive to competitive and hierarchical. Here are seven of the most common types:

• Adhocracy culture: Flexible, fast-paced, and focused on solutions. These organizations thrive on innovation, experimentation, and decentralized decision-making. Employees are encouraged to take initiative and think big.
• Collaborative culture: Teamwork is everything. Employees share ideas freely and see success as a group effort. These cultures rely on open communication and trust. 
• Clan culture: A culture of business built on connection. These environments feel like tight-knit communities, where belonging, mentorship, and mutual support matter as much as performance.
• Hierarchy culture: A structured, top-down culture. Roles are clearly defined, and decision-making follows a chain of command.
• Inclusive culture: Equitable and welcoming. Inclusive cultures commit to advancing diversity in the workplace, actively prioritizing equity, access, and belonging.
• Market culture: Competition-driven performance. These companies are results-oriented, with success often measured by external benchmarks and business outcomes.
• Customer-centric culture: The customer comes first. Employees are empowered to prioritize client satisfaction, often over internal processes or conventions.

No one culture type is inherently better than the others. The best fit for your organization depends on what fits your company’s values, goals, and people. In practice, the most effective cultures often blend traits from several types. What matters most is that your culture is intentional and aligned with the experience you want to create.

The core elements of company culture

A strong organizational culture starts with clear core values, which define how employees interact, collaborate, and lead. And they show up in the world’s most admired work culture examples, from Google to Patagonia.

• Credibility: Trust starts at the top. In credible companies, leaders communicate openly, keep their word, and foster transparency across the organization.
• Fairness: Equal access to opportunity is non-negotiable. The companies with the healthiest corporate cultures maintain consistent standards and have zero tolerance for bias or favoritism.
• Respect: This value is rooted in how employees treat one another. It shows up through active listening, open collaboration, and professional conflict resolution.
• Pride: Employees feel proud when they see the impact of their work. That pride fuels motivation, performance, and a shared commitment to the company’s goals.
• Belonging: Inclusive cultures create space for everyone to feel supported and connected. Employees know they’re part of something meaningful and that their presence matters.

Core values are important. But defining them isn’t enough. To shape a healthy organizational culture, you need real visibility into how those values show up day to day. 

Workleap Officevibe makes that visibility possible through features like continuous feedback, peer recognition, and AI-powered engagement insights. With real-time views into employee sentiment, leaders can act quickly, improving the experience and keeping the corporate culture strong.

The key drivers of corporate culture

Company culture is woven into every part of the employee experience, from handbook policies to hallway conversations to the ways decisions get made. Here are four factors that influence and reflect your corporate culture.

How you treat employees

Compensation, recognition, and basic respect are pillars, not perks. Companies that value contributions, acknowledge individuality, and create space for everyone to thrive cultivate a more positive, resilient corporate culture.

How you make decisions

Top-down decisions send a less-than-perfect message about who holds power. On the flipside, cultures shaped by shared input and transparency feel more equitable, collaborative, and empowering. That’s especially true for the employees doing the day-to-day work because they often have valuable insights of their own.

How people communicate

Open, honest communication forms the backbone of a healthy workplace. When companies encourage dialogue, clarity, and feedback, employees have an easier time feeling heard. Teams also tend to move faster, avoiding the confusion that so often slows progress.

How work gets done

Culture lives in the everyday. Workflows that support flexibility, autonomy, and collaboration help people bring their best selves to work. In contrast, rigid rules and micromanagement have a habit of quietly eroding employee trust and morale.

3 steps to developing company culture

A culture that aligns with your mission and meets people where they are boosts employee engagement, loyalty, and performance. Ready to start building yours? Here are three steps you can take to get there.

1. Define who you are

Clarify your company’s mission and values. When you know what you stand for and the reputation you want to build, you can shape your culture around that vision. Make your values visible, repeatable, and actionable. And encourage leaders to model those values so employees see them reflected in the day-to-day work.

2. Listen to your people

You can’t build culture in a vacuum. Talk to your teams about what’s working, what’s not, and what kind of culture they want to be part of.

Meetings aren’t the only way to tap into those sentiments. Use regular surveys to collect feedback and spot patterns over time. Workleap Officevibe can help you turn survey responses into clear insights and next steps. Whether it’s adding flexibility or improving recognition, small changes rooted in real input make a big difference.

3. Bring culture to life

Culture lives in the details. That means creating space for collaboration and offering clear communication from leadership. 

It also means making well-being a priority. Promote a healthy work-life balance, from flexible schedules and time-off policies to benefits like therapy access or wellness stipends. When people feel supported, the company culture thrives.

How to improve your company culture

Culture and the workplace are deeply connected, but not always in positive ways. Even with the best intentions, a toxic organizational culture can take hold. You might see the signs in how people communicate or how they treat each other. Burnout, low morale, and performance dips are all major red flags. 

Here’s how to turn things around and build a workplace culture that people actually want to be a part of.

Fix what’s wrong

You can’t fix what you don’t see. By collecting employee feedback and tracking engagement data, you can gain clarity on what’s dragging your culture down. If burnout keeps popping up as a problem, for example, it could point to unrealistic workloads or an unsupportive work environment. Use that insight to adjust expectations and give employees the breathing room they need to thrive.

Foster better conflict resolution

Healthy cultures don’t avoid conflict; they handle it with care. Start by creating a space where people feel safe speaking up without fear of backlash. Encourage open communication and build in regular one-on-one meetings so employees have a consistent outlet to share concerns.

But here’s an important note: This tactic will only succeed if leaders are equipped to handle those conversations well. Train managers to approach conflict constructively, not defensively. Leaders who model respectful, solution-focused communication set the tone for the entire team.

Make space for fun

Toxic cultures often strip away the human side of work. But encouraging connection can help. Celebrate birthdays and milestones, promote social engagement, and schedule off-sites to help people reset and connect. You’ll soon notice that teams that have fun together collaborate better, too.

Enhance your company culture with Workleap

Workleap Officevibe is one of the most effective tools for improving workplace culture. It empowers teams to foster a culture of recognition and feedback that keeps values alive and engagement strong. 

With features like Officevibe’s Good Vibes recognition cards, teams can celebrate wins and shout out behaviors that reflect what the company stands for. And thanks to Workleap’s powerful reporting tools, HR and leaders can track engagement, spot emerging challenges, and act quickly to keep the work culture on course.

Ready to create a workplace where people feel seen, supported, and ready to thrive? Try Workleap Officevibe for free to start shaping the company culture your team deserves.

FAQS

How does remote work affect company culture?

One of the biggest differences between on-site and distributed teams is the opportunity for social interaction. Remote employees don’t get casual moments like coffee chats or hallway catch-ups. But connection is still possible. Try playing online games or hosting lunch and learns to help people bond while learning something new. 

How can you maintain company culture during rapid growth or change?

As your company grows, revisit your company values, refining them as needed. Be sure to communicate any updates clearly and often. And most importantly, keep communication open. Regular 1:1s and team check-ins can help employees feel supported and give leaders a clearer view of the company culture as it evolves.