How important are company culture and values? Do they have an impact on productivity and employee retention? They do indeed. Any HR Dept. manager will tell you that because it’s usually them or the leaders who deliver presentations on the company culture code and assess their efficiency.
When employees understand and share company values, it makes a huge difference. It boosts respect, trust, a sense of belonging, and commitment to common goals.
We want to explore how to design internal presentations that resonate with the company employees and which tools to leverage to create an engaging experience.
If you are interested in various kinds of company internal presentations, we have a couple of more articles that you can check out: an article on onboarding presentations (how to welcome new employees into the fold) and an article on how to deliver information to the employees (especially sensitive or bad news).
1. Incorporate Visual and Interactive Elements
Visuals make content easier to absorb, especially when it’s more conceptual, like company culture. Use visual storytelling with images, short videos, and infographics to simplify and emphasize key points. This way, you’ll keep people’s attention and encourage participation.
- Use Visual Symbols and Icons
Visuals don’t need to be complex. Simple icons that symbolize your values can reinforce messages and make them more memorable.
Below is an example from the HubSpot Culture Code. They created a simple and ‘direct’ slide that includes the most critical aspects of company culture. Not exactly icons, but captivating… and cute.
- Interactive Polls and Q&A
Use polling tools or in-presentation Q&A sessions to see how employees understand different values and which of them they find the most critical. For example, Spotify includes questions for the audience in its culture deck (example below).This interactivity makes the presentation more engaging.
2. Craft a Compelling Narrative with Storytelling
When communicating company culture and values, storytelling comes to the forefront as a very powerful tool. People usually remember stories far better than bullet points. That makes storytelling perfect for delivering complex ideas in a digestible way. Here’s how you can use storytelling effectively:
- Highlight Founding Stories and Milestones
Share the origin story of the company. How did it begin, and why? Was there a unique challenge, inspiring mission, or motivating principle that led to its founding? What was its journey to the current culture and values?
Connect employees to the company’s roots, and you will help them see the larger picture and their role in it.
Buffer is a company that created one of the well-known social media marketing tools. Its presentation explains how the company leaders came to the values included in the Culture Code.
- Use Real Employee Stories
Share the stories from employees about how they’ve personally experienced or benefited from the company’s values. It will be an appealing personal touch. These can be stories where employees talk about company values in action.
Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company which is committed to environmental sustainability. It’s heavily involved in activist work on saving the planet, taking part in multiple environmental initiatives.
However, Patagonia not only sponsors or organizes multiple environmental campaigns but also employs people who consider it their responsibility as human beings to protect the planet.
Patagonia’s employees play an important role in the environmental movement and share the stories, inspiring newcomers to join.
3. Emphasize the ‘Why’ Behind Each Value
If you simply list company values without context, it may not touch people deeply. For each value, clearly explain its importance and how it goes in sync with the company’s broader goals. This way, employees will connect with the values on a deeper level.
Netflix is famous for its culture deck, which states the company’s core values and philosophies. In Netflix’s presentation, each value is broken down, making it relatable to employees.
While this deck isn’t traditionally “internal” anymore, it was initially meant to be a guiding document for employees.
In the examples below, you can see how the slides explain two of the company’s critical values: courage and passion.
4. Leverage Data to Support Cultural Values
Sometimes, it helps to use numbers to make cultural values feel more real and less abstract. For example, if “Collaboration” is a core value, show metrics on how collaboration has positively impacted recent projects or improved employee satisfaction. You can create a chart or a timeline, to make it easier to digest.
Google uses presentations to show the success of its values-driven initiatives. Presenting data proving the company’s advantages and high ratings in business (see the example below) is important for the employees to feel connected to the company culture.
5. Involve Leadership to Reinforce Commitment
If you are one of the company leaders, your participation in the presentation can make a big difference in how your employees will receive the message.
When leaders speak honestly and openly about the importance of values, employees are more likely to take them seriously. Share your reflections and experiences with these values. Personal always resonates.
Starbucks former CEO Howard Schultz was known for reinforcing the company’s ‘Employee First’ philosophy and a sense of ownership by employees over the company’s values.
6. Follow Up with Engaging Reminders
After the presentation, keep the message alive with reminders. Send short follow-up videos, email stories of employees who proved certain values, or organize interactive workshops that revisit key cultural points. Company values shouldn’t become a one-off message.
Airbnb routinely revisits its ‘Belong Anywhere’ slogan in team meetings, presentations, and newsletters. Their culture and values are presented as an ongoing conversation.
The focus on community promotes their brand identity and helps employees feel like they belong. Here’s one of the company newsletters reinforcing the slogan and providing inspiring data and updates.
Final Thoughts
Although ‘company culture and values’ seems like an abstract concept, its importance is hard to overrate. It has a great impact on all areas of the company life: retention, morale, motivation, productivity… the list goes on.
Make sure that your presentation of the company culture code resonates with employees. Present the values in an honest and engaging way, and they will become lived principles, rather than abstract ideals.
We at Wonderslide will be happy to help you reinforce your presentation on culture and values by making it beautiful with perfectly curated slides and a stylish color scheme. Our neural network will make the whole process easy and fast for you.