Culture can make or break a team. It's one of the major drivers of engagement, retention, and company success because it directly impacts how happy and motivated your employees feel in the day-to-day. In fact, a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 83% of employees who describe their workplace culture as "good" or "excellent" say they’re motivated to produce high-quality work, compared to just 45% in poor or toxic cultures.
When your team is small, it’s easier to establish a strong culture because you can see and feel every interaction. But as your company grows and new people come on board, that close-knit energy can start to fade. During periods of rapid growth, it's critical to be intentional about scaling your culture so that it doesn't take a back seat, but evolves into an even greater source of strength.
In a recent episode of monday.com’s The Standup, Yael Miller sat down with David Hanrahan, SVP of People Success at SolarWinds, to explore how to keep your culture vibrant as you scale. David shared practical strategies for staying grounded in your values and helping your team do the same. This week’s tips are inspired by their conversation.
So, how can you nurture a thriving culture as your team expands?
Break out of the echo chamber
It’s easy to get stuck in your own perspective, especially if your company is growing fast. But as David points out, it’s critical to really listen to your employees throughout the evolution. That’s where skip-level meetings can be so valuable. Meeting with employees who are layers below you on the org chart helps you cut through the noise and hear what’s really going on. This is particularly relevant today, as hierarchies flatten and spans of control widen. Try to prioritize conversations with team members who aren't your direct reports, so you can better understand the day-to-day interactions that shape your culture. Having these small details gives you a more complete view of the relationships, working habits, and sentiments that shape your culture, so you can strategize which direction you'd like to grow in.
Key question: “Where can you carve out time from your routine to connect with members of your team?”
Gauge your team’s convergence
Even if your culture feels strong, it’s important not to take it for granted. Once you start opening up these new lines of communication, take the opportunity to listen for alignment (or lack of it). As you connect with employees, look for common threads and differences in how they describe the company. David calls this “finding convergence,” and suggests asking each person what the team feels like at its best and at its worst (remember, the real test of your values is how they hold up during challenging times, not just the good ones). When you hear similar answers, it’s a sign your culture is steady and shared, but if stories start to diverge, it’s a signal that parts of your culture may be drifting. These kinds of issues can sneak up on you, so consider scheduling quarterly culture checks to create space for open, honest feedback and to spot trends early.
Key question: “What do your team members say about the company when it’s at its best and at its worst?”
Balance cultural consistency with inclusion
As you bring new people onto your team, it’s important to think beyond just hiring for “culture fit.” You want a diverse group that brings fresh perspectives and new ideas while still sharing the core values that hold your team together. That’s why David suggests hiring for values alignment rather than cultural sameness. Focusing on shared values can help build a team of all types of backgrounds and experiences without losing the foundation that made your team culture strong in the first place. This way, you can reap the benefits of having diverse perspectives. Not only are you not sacrificing the strength of your team culture, you're actually making it even stronger.
Key question: “How can you make sure new team members enrich your culture rather than dilute it?”
Build momentum together
When shaping culture, it can be tempting to push a vision from the top down, but real change happens when you build alliances and create a groundswell of support across the team. David points out that culture should never feel like just an “HR initiative” — it should feel like a shared mission that everyone owns and feels proud of. Invite people to co-create and champion cultural values in their daily work, which could be developing team values together, coming up with ways of supporting and celebrating one another, or finding new ways to deepen connections. When team members feel a sense of ownership, culture becomes more meaningful and resilient as your organization grows.
Key question: “Who are your culture champions, and how can you support them in building momentum?”
Create rituals that reinforce connection
Rituals help anchor your culture, especially during times of change and growth. According to McKinsey, teams that intentionally embed cultural rituals and model behaviors are 5.3× more likely to succeed. Rituals don't have to be big or complicated; they could mean having a segment of your team all-hands devoted to coworkers shouting each other out for embodying team values or devoting a day each month to have lunch together. These moments create consistency as the team expands, as well as build trust and keep values alive in everyday work. Over time, these shared experiences become part of your team's identity and give people something to look forward to.
Key question: “What team rituals can you create or protect to keep people connected?”
