There’s a paradigm shift in workplaces in the post-pandemic era owing to a plethora of factors such as changes in working style, the emergence of virtual communication methods, and many other elements. However, if there’s one thing that hasn’t changed and will not in the foreseeable future is the significance of a positive and thriving culture in an organization. As a founder of a rapidly growing agency, the value of culture is something that I cannot lay enough stress on. In my opinion, it is the most pivotal task for each and every leader to maintain it and should not be in any case ignored. 

There are a lot of factors that contribute to making the culture of any organization thriving such as clear-cut vision, transparency, resilience, willingness to adapt, but, probably the most substantial is motivated employees, who are aligned with the vision of the company. In theoretical terms, there is an abundance of ways that can be used to motivate employees such as incentives and gamification but aligning them to your and your company’s vision and mission is another ball game altogether. The most efficient and effective method that I have come across and used in my career graph, is productivity and performance management. Maintaining the productivity and performance of your employees while keeping them motivated is key.

Here’s a list of some effective ways to maintain it

• Setting short, measurable, and attainable goals - It is of utmost importance of setting short, measurable, and attainable goals for your employees. They provide focus and direction which ultimately help to ascertain whether one is on the right path and succeeding, or if there’s a need to evolve and adapt. However, in the fast-paced field like Public Relations and communications,  it is very crucial to keep relooking at goals to check their relevance. 
• Avoiding micromanagement - Micro-management at all costs should be avoided, it saves time and energy and helps nurture an atmosphere of trust within the organization. It also helps in building the virtue of accountability amongst employees. To avoid micromanagement, ask employees to make priority charts and work accordingly and tick off items as soon as they’re completed off the chart.
• Prioritizing your employees equally as clients - The employees lay the foundation and also help a great deal in paving the growth of an organization Hence, it is important to build a happy, productive, and motivated team at work. An employee’s input results in great outputs for both an organization and its clients. The easiest and most significant way of keeping your team happy is by keeping an open mode of communication at the workplace where employees can talk about their challenges and need-gaps, as their honesty and performance will reflect in their work and will ultimately help in continuing to keep client satisfied and happy with the work done for them. 
• Creating a culture of transparency & productivity - A transparent culture across the organization is of key importance and can lead to up to a tenfold increase in productivity.  To build a transparent culture, junior employees should be encouraged to express their ideas and opinions, and senior management should be open to listening and implementing the ones that can prove to be beneficial to the organization. Additionally, another method that in my opinion can help build a transparent culture is that employees should be appreciated in public and given feedback in private. It boosts their self-esteem and keeps them motivated.

Last, but not least, it is always important to keep in mind to nurture and empower your team to build a successful positive environment that helps you yield results and take your organization to scalable heights.