Good company culture: many companies boast that they have it, but a quick chat with one of their employees or a look at their Glassdoor profile will show otherwise. That’s because good company culture isn’t something that comes about from pizza parties or hosting a happy hour after work.

While those things are nice, it’s not what makes colleagues truly enjoy working for an organization. What makes for a good culture is showing your colleagues you value them through providing great benefits, communicating often and honestly, and offering training and downtime where they can learn and connect. 

Benefits

A robust benefits package tells your employees that you care about their well-being as a person, not just as a colleague. At LMD, a lot of our advancements in this area have come organically based on personal experiences as a team.

LMD was founded in 1976 when paternity leave and mental health days weren’t talked about or offered by many companies. As our colleagues' families grew and their lives changed, LMD’s leadership wanted to offer benefits that would best support our team. As of today, LMD offers full-time employees paid mental health days. We also offer additional paid leave to new parents returning to work, including moms, dads, and adopting parents.

Communication

Have you ever worked for an organization and you’re not sure of the overall direction it’s heading? Or what’s coming down the pipeline? It was likely due to a lack of communication from leadership–and probably didn’t do much to inspire confidence or make you feel valued. At LMD, we make it a priority to regularly communicate with our colleagues through weekly meetings and one on one check-ins. 

Communication like this is crucial not just to company culture, but also for an organization’s overall success. Oftentimes, the best ideas will come from the people who aren’t in leadership positions. Their viewpoints and insights, especially in this industry, are what will help an organization stay on the cutting edge. 

Training

Another important piece of our culture is training opportunities. It’s important for leadership to understand that not every person will want to move up the ladder in the same way. Some colleagues will want to make lateral moves and explore different areas of the business to find where they fit best. That’s why LMD gives each employee a yearly training budget that they can use on any professional certification or training course that interests them. 

Giving colleagues the opportunity to learn a new skill and better themselves free from the box of their assigned duties and responsibilities shows that you care about their professional growth, free from how it will impact the company’s bottom line.

Shared Knowledge and Client Insights

Collaboration is another important piece of our culture. One example of how LMD fosters this is through our monthly “ColabWorks” event that allows different client teams to share what unique innovations they’re working on that can benefit everyone. We also regularly present new trends and strategies in areas including research, branding, media outreach, design, and more that the  greater team can take advantage of. This allows everyone to gain knowledge and supports the culture of collaboration that we aim to cultivate. 

Downtime

Downtime is essential to a good company culture–and no, this doesn’t mean taking mid-day nap breaks. It means giving colleagues time during the work week (not after work or on the weekends) to connect and build the feeling of being part of a team. 

An example would be our community outreach events. This past year, LMD participated in two community-based environmental cleanup projects and our “Holiday Angels” project where team members come together to purchase gifts for families in need. Aside from the benefit of giving back to our community, these events are invaluable for colleagues to feel connected and part of the greater team. 

Keep in mind, this downtime doesn’t always have to be outreach-oriented. For the holidays this past year, we provided everyone with an ingredients stipend and offered a virtual charcuterie class where our instructor taught us how to create charcuterie boards that we could show off to friends and families during the holidays. 

At LMD, we strive to create a culture that our employees are proud to be a part of. A strong company culture is what keeps happiness and retention rates high, and leads to better work for our clients. If you’re interested in learning more about working at LMD, check out our Careers Page.