Every workplace has its own unique cultural identity. Some are focused on the positivity of its employees, while others are centered around a customer-first attitude. Yet others unfortunately fall prey to toxicity, which can tear down a business from the inside out. Even if your company seems to embrace only negativity, there are ways to redefine your workplace culture and make it a better environment.

Celebrate Everyone

Some workplaces are enmeshed in a web of drama and gossip. This can be perpetuated when people feel like they are not receiving the recognition they deserve, or when others seem to get recognized frequently. To help people feel like they are valuable team members, find ways to celebrate everyone on the team equally. Perhaps you can take everyone out to lunch, or give a gift card to each person around the holidays. A personalized thank-you note will go a long way, too. Do everything you can to make others feel special and the negativity will lessen.

Talk About Negativity

One way to improve a toxic culture is to talk one-on-one with people about negativity. This is particularly important for those who are negative more often than not, and you should put some extra care into those conversations. Make sure people have an outlet for venting or bringing genuine concerns, but also point to specific examples of ways negativity shouldn’t be handled. Usually, only a few people on a team will instigate the negativity, leading to others feeling worse, so if you can find those people, you can probably make a large change.

Stick to Values

Aside from negativity, some companies simply desire to change their values. A company may have focused on providing personalized customer service, but now the volume of business may be too large to keep up. In a case like this, it is really important to define where your values lie and then stick to them. Be sure you and your team are both held accountable, and really commit to changing how you work in order to meet these values.

Changing a company’s culture is not an overnight feat, and it will require serious work on the part of both management and employees. These tips can help you get started, but ultimately, the steps you must take to cultivate the culture you desire will be entirely dependent on where your business is today and where it needs to go.