We asked the 2024 Best of Des Moines winners: What advice do you have on building a strong organizational culture? Here’s what they said.

Every organization has a culture. You must define your culture with input from your team and identify the core values in your organization. Those values need to be constantly communicated. Recognize and reward individuals who demonstrate those values. Encourage teamwork and collaboration to create positive experiences that will strengthen relationships among co-workers.
– Mark Rupprecht, president, R&R Realty Group

Our advice on building a strong organizational culture would be to prioritize open communication, continuous learning and a shared commitment to innovation. Encourage collaboration across all levels of the organization, celebrate diversity and inclusion and ensure that every team member feels valued and empowered to contribute. By aligning the company’s values with its actions and fostering a sense of purpose, an organization can create a culture that drives both employee satisfaction and business success.
– Ben Ruzick, regional vice president, Metronet

At Pigott, we believe that building a strong organizational culture starts with a clear commitment to our core values: Do the right thing, lead the way, choose your voice and create exceptional experiences. By embedding these core values into our daily practices, we cultivate a culture that is collaborative, ethical and driven by a shared vision. This strong cultural foundation enables us to achieve our goals and support each other as we grow together.
– Jeannette Smith, vice president of sales and marketing, Pigott

Cultivate transparency and authenticity. People can spot a contrived answer or an inauthentic leader a mile away. Through quarterly culture surveys of our staff, we ask them if they feel they can be their true selves at work, how connected they feel to their team and the organization and what we could do better. Leadership isn’t about coming up with the “right” answer to your employees’ questions, it’s about encouraging an open dialogue — and keeping staff informed of both the good and the bad affecting the organization.
– Tray Wade, president and CEO, EveryStep

You can never go wrong when you lead by example. Demonstrate the desired culture through your own actions and behaviors.
– Jenna Kimberley, CEO, Kimberley Development Corp.

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Editor’s note: How does Best of Des Moines voting work? You voted. We checked the data, removed any suspicious or erroneous votes and then tallied the results for all 69 categories. All Greater Des Moines businesses, people and organizations are eligible to win categories. In other words, there was no cost to be listed as an option due to the survey being open-ended. You can’t pay to win a category.