*This is a contributed post. This post contains affiliate links.
What is a business? Well, for many it’s an organization designed for the direct purpose of generating revenue and making a profit. But that’s not all it is. Businesses can be platforms that offer value and worth to the world, exactly why they generate revenue from their efforts. We wouldn’t consider a local restaurant to be a profit extraction machine, but a vital part of the community and part of our cultural fabric, even if yes, they do need to trade well to survive.
As such, it’s important to recognize that a business isn’t just a commercial entity, but a platform with some reach and the chance to have an impact. Sometimes, that impact can go to sustainable work. Other times, it can sustain activist messages. But what if your business is looking to bust conventional norms in your industry? Let’s consider what that might look like:
Allow Staff To Express Themselves
Unless you work in a law firm or a military division, it’s a good idea to let staff wear smart casual clothes and to express themselves. Hair dye, fun clothes or styles, facial expressions like eyebrow or rook piercing options, all of this can culminate in a healthy and diverse workforce allowed to be their best and most productive selves in your work environment.
A Healthy Accountability Culture
It might not seem as though accountability is some super-cool rule-breaking perspective to take, but it’s important to note that businesses that pride themselves on flexibility are often best when their culture is carefully managed, where staff feel safe to report issues, and where no-tolerance for bullying or discrimination is standard. Investing in your HR department can help you avoid many, many firms that have suffered alleged abuses, even in creative and productive fields.
Have Idea Generation Sessions
Letting good ideas rise to the top is almost always a fantastic approach to take, no matter who you are and what your business excels in. For this reason, curating idea-generation sessions that allow individuals to report on their projects, and challenges they’ve had and to submit ideas for public workshops can help you foster collaboration, especially when looking for creative solutions to problems. Nothing invigorates staff more than this, and it helps to soften any hierarchical structure.
Let Staff Choose Professional Development Directions
Investing in staff is of course essential, but it’s important to remember that giving them the space to decide where they want to point their careers instead of dictating that to them can actually be the healthiest plan of all. This not only motivates staff but helps you understand how to train and build them within the organization, helping you lower staff turnover, get the best from your employees, and retain a truly diverse set of people and skills.
With this advice, you’ll be certain to bust those conventional norms within your business approach. In other words, invest in people, and you can bet they’ll invest in you.
Want to review, plan, and redefine things in your fashion business, so you can reach your goals in your business? Grab our free guides here!
