Working in mental health and family services is one of the hardest and most rewarding career paths you can choose. You are on the front lines of witnessing people’s lowest lows and are by their side as they move toward new heights.

Having a healthy and vibrant team culture is one of the ways Victor supports its employees to be their best so they can help our clients break cycles of poverty, improve their mental health, and strengthen their families.  

Victor Community Support Services, Redding

At Victor Community Support Services Redding, the entire staff refers to themselves as a “feam” – a combination of team and family. They also make a point of welcoming new staff into meetings and sending them heartfelt emails during their first few days.  

One employee creates an Acrostic poem for each newcomer that ties in our Victor Values and the site culture. New staff also receive swag bags as both a sign of appreciation for joining the team but also as a thank you for making it through the first few weeks of remote onboarding.

Effective Ways to Build Team Culture

Victor Community Support Services in Redding's methods of building team culture may be unique to them, but there are some universal strategies that can be applied to any team. O.C. Tanner, a company who excels in streamlining teams, listed 4 Ways to Build a Thriving Team Culture. 

According to the latest 2020 global research, an employee’s team is fundamental to their wellbeing, engagement, and overall experience. However, team dynamics often fall to the bottom of the list of initiatives companies take to improving their workplace culture. In fact, only 26% of employees feel their team works seamlessly together. Apply these 4 takeaways to start building a thriving team culture and ensure your people feel safe, empowered, connected, and valued.

1. Create a sense of autonomy

It’s true, having trust in your team is fundamental to building a sense of autonomy, but leaders can take more proactive steps to help employees feel connected to their teams and other leaders in the organization. As a leader, helping cultivate strong relationships with and between team members is a great way to build a thriving team culture. When teams have strong bonds with one another and their leader, there is 42% greater odds team members will feel they have high autonomy. 

Another way to develop a sense of autonomy is by setting employees up with opportunities to grow, develop, and work on special projects. As they create and work on things outside of their immediate job role, their sense of autonomy increases. The 2020 Global Culture Report shows that when employees feel they can take advantage of these unique opportunities, there is a 33% greater sense of high autonomy. 

“Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”Vince Lombardi 

2. Foster transparency, openness, and team identity

Autonomy and psychological safety go hand-in-hand and are important characteristics of thriving teams. When teams are given more freedom and flexibility to be creative and innovate, they feel safer to take risks and speak up in their team. Leaders should actively work to ensure all members feel a strong sense of team identity. 

One way to accomplish this is by letting every team member know the roles of each individual on the team. How does everyone contribute? What does their workload look like? And then back this up by making sure everyone knows their job has meaning and that what they are doing is valuable. Doing so leads to a 93% increase in the odds of psychological safety. 

When teams prioritize work and tackle projects together, they strengthen collaboration, purpose, and belonging. This contributes to an 88% increase in the odds of having a psychologically safe culture. 

Finally, after every project, hold an honest review all together so that everyone can experience success and failure as a team, not individually, so everyone feels accountable and no one is singled out. They should be willing to give and receive honest, critical feedback to make the team stronger. When these things are done, there is a 55% (accountable) and 91% (singled out) increase in the odds of psychological safety, respectively.

“Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.”Patrick Lencioni 

3. Utilize peer-to-peer conversations

Everyone wants a sense of opportunity and development at work, but that is no longer just the leader’s responsibility. Building team culture requires peer-to-peer conversations with other team members to share feedback, support development, and grow together.  

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We have over 60 years of experience and over 20 locations covering the state of California. Our staff is full of people who genuinely believe in making a difference each day from our administrative staff all the way to the executive leadership.

The strength of our organization relies upon those who work under the Victor umbrella, and our Victor Values lay the foundation for a company culture that allows its people to thrive.  If you are someone who feels called to help others and wants to be part of a team like ours, then Victor may be the right place for you.