Your company is only as good as its people. You rely on attracting and retaining top talent to not just keep your business afloat, but to actually grow it. That's why a positive culture is essential. It's contagious and spreads across your organization, motivating your people to work hard, feel appreciated, have a positive attitude, collaborate better, and not look elsewhere. It also helps to pull great talent away from your chief competitors. 

So, how can you enhance your culture? Here are four tips with a laundry list of specific examples to emulate.

Assign Company Mentors and Offer Training for Professional Development

• Assign seasoned and successful employees to more junior and mid-level ones to be mentors, helping them learn from their own mistakes and successes. The mentor can also assist mentees to build a succession plan for long-term career growth

• Offer stipend toward continuing education, such as classes, certifications, or even whole degrees

• Give free access to training software, such as Lynda

• Invite a professional speaker to host a speaking session to educate and inspire your team

Company Outings and Team-Building Events

• Company "happy hour" sessions

• Rent out a zoo, park, movie theatre

• Create a company softball or other sports league 

• Feature a private concert 

• Host a potluck

• Get creative with a scavenger hunt

• Have a game night

• Plan a karaoke extravaganza 

• Sign up for an escape room event  

Employee Perks

• Rewards program, where you recognize achievements and offer benefits

• Wellness programs and gym memberships 

• Options to work remotely and flexible work schedule 

• Free snacks 

• Create designated napping and meditation/relaxation rooms

• Offer stipends to help pay down student loans 

• Have an office pet and host pet-friendly days, where employees can bring in their pets 

• Bereavement time off for not just human loved ones, but pets as well

• Offer medical, life, and dental insurance

• Issue additional paid time off with more vacation, personal, and sick days

• Maternity and paternity care options and paid time off 

• Discretionary bonuses

• Retirement plans, such as 401(k)s

• Create partnerships with local businesses to offer employee discounts

• Equity in company and stock options 

Promote Social Responsibility 

• Offer paid time for employees to volunteer at charitable organizations

• Make your office more "green," such as having plants decorate the office, having the printers default to double-sided printing, celebrating Earth Day, switching to more renewable energy lighting, and just encouraging going paper-less altogether

• Have contests to craft innovative ways to make your office more socially responsible

• Promote greater diversity within the organization, such as hiring, creating a diversity committee, issue diversity reports

• Create a company mission statement or credo that expressly promotes social responsibility as a core value