Building Workplace Culture When You Have Under 50 People

Culture Isn't Ping Pong Tables

Every article about workplace culture leads with the same examples: Google's free lunches, Netflix's unlimited vacation, Patagonia's surf breaks. None of that applies to your 12-person electrical company.

Culture for a small business isn't about perks. It's about how people treat each other, how decisions get made, how problems get handled, and whether your team trusts you.

Culture Starts With the Owner

Here's the uncomfortable truth: your company culture is a direct reflection of your behavior. If you yell when things go wrong, your team will hide mistakes. If you play favorites, your team will compete against each other instead of collaborating. If you say quality matters but reward speed, you'll get sloppy work.

Your team is always watching you, especially when things are hard. That's when culture gets real.

The Five Pillars of Small Business Culture

1. Clarity

People can't do good work if they don't know what good work looks like. Culture starts with clear expectations:

• What are the standards for the work we do?
• How do we communicate with each other and with clients?
• What behaviors are rewarded? What behaviors aren't tolerated?
• What's the mission of this business -- really, not the poster on the wall?

Write these down. Discuss them. Hold people (including yourself) to them.

2. Fairness

Nothing destroys culture faster than perceived unfairness. Common killers:

• Inconsistent rules: One set of rules for the owner's nephew, another set for everyone else
• Unexplained decisions: People can handle tough decisions if they understand the reasoning
• Uneven workloads: Top performers getting punished with more work while underperformers coast
• Pay inequity: Especially for people doing the same job at different rates with no clear justification

You don't have to be everyone's friend. You do have to be fair.

3. Communication

In a small business, communication should be direct and frequent. You don't need a formal internal communications strategy. You need:

• Regular team meetings: Weekly or bi-weekly. Keep them focused and time-boxed
• One-on-ones: Monthly minimum with every direct report
• Open-door policy that's actually real: If you say your door is open but get annoyed when people walk through it, you don't have an open-door policy
• Transparent financial updates: Your team should understand how the business is doing. You don't have to share exact numbers, but they should know whether things are good, tight, or concerning

4. Recognition

Small businesses have an advantage here: you see the work happening in real time. Use that:

• Call out good work specifically and promptly
• Celebrate wins as a team -- even small ones
• Send a text on the weekend after a hard week: "Thanks for pushing through that. I noticed"
• Ask people about their lives outside of work and actually listen

Recognition doesn't cost money. It costs attention.

5. Growth

People need to feel like they're going somewhere. In a small business, the career ladder is short, but growth can look different:

• New responsibilities and challenges
• Skills training and certifications
• Involvement in business decisions
• Mentorship from you or senior team members
• Cross-training in different areas of the business

If the only reason to stay is the paycheck, people will leave for a bigger one.

Toxic Culture Red Flags

Watch for these in your own business:

• High turnover in the first year: Your culture isn't matching what candidates expect
• Gossip and cliques: People are communicating around you instead of through proper channels
• Nobody pushes back: If everyone always agrees with you, they're afraid, not aligned
• Blame culture: When mistakes happen, people point fingers instead of fixing problems
• Work-life boundary violations: Expecting people to be available 24/7, canceling PTO, shaming sick days

Building Culture With a Remote or Hybrid Team

If some or all of your team works remotely, culture requires more intentional effort:

• Regular video check-ins: Not just about work. Build the relationship
• Clear communication norms: When do you use email vs. text vs. call? Set expectations
• In-person gatherings: Even quarterly or annually, getting the team together in person builds connection that remote work can't replicate
• Trust over surveillance: Monitoring software destroys trust. Judge people by their output, not their screen time

Culture and Hiring

Culture fit matters in hiring, but be careful. "Culture fit" should mean "this person shares our values and work ethic," not "this person looks, thinks, and acts like everyone else." The best teams have diversity of background and perspective united by shared values and goals.

The Long Game

Culture isn't built in a retreat or a team lunch. It's built in thousands of small moments: how you handle a mistake, how you celebrate a win, how you treat people when times are hard. Get those moments right, consistently, and culture takes care of itself.

Most importantly, be honest with yourself about what your culture actually is -- not what you wish it was. Ask your team anonymously. The gap between your perception and theirs is where the real work needs to happen.