What happens to your company culture when your team grows faster than your office space—or when there’s no office at all?
As companies scale, the culture that once felt tight-knit and organic can easily start to feel distant and diluted. That sense of shared purpose, connection, and trust—the things that made your team thrive—becomes harder to hold onto.
And yet, culture is one of the most powerful drivers of employee satisfaction and retention. In fact, reports show that employees who rate their workplace culture highly are 790% more likely to feel satisfied at work, 83% less likely to be looking for a new job, and 96% less likely to dread going to work.
The good news? Culture doesn’t have to be a casualty of growth. With the right strategies and a clear sense of who you are as a company, it’s absolutely possible to scale your team while staying rooted in your core values. This guide will walk you through how to maintain culture in a growing company, no matter how fast you’re expanding or where your people are located.
Identifying and Protecting Your Core Values
The first step in learning how to maintain culture in a growing company is knowing exactly what you’re trying to protect. Core values aren’t just buzzwords—they’re the beliefs and behaviors that define how your team works, communicates, and connects. When your company grows, having these values clearly defined and consistently practiced becomes even more important.
✅Step 1: Define What Your Values Really Are
Start by reflecting on what makes your company tick:
- What behaviors do you consistently celebrate?
- How do your teams collaborate and solve problems?
- What does “success” look like beyond hitting KPIs?
Gather input from founding members, long-time employees, and key stakeholders. Look for patterns in stories, moments of pride, and challenges overcome—that’s where your real values live.
✍️Step 2: Make Your Values Actionable
Once you’ve identified your values, bring them to life:
- Write them in clear, everyday language.
- Pair each value with examples of what it looks like in action.
- Share real stories that show how people have embodied those values.
Avoid abstract phrases that don’t translate into behavior. For example, instead of saying “Be Bold,” explain what boldness looks like on your team—taking initiative, speaking up in meetings, or proposing new ideas.
🛠️Step 3: Embed Your Values Into Daily Work
Protecting your culture means reinforcing your values in everything you do:
- Hiring: Ask interview questions that assess value alignment.
- Onboarding: Introduce new hires to your culture from day one.
- Recognition: Celebrate behaviors that reflect your values.
- Performance Reviews: Include value-based criteria in evaluations.
When values are woven into daily processes, they become part of how people work—not just what they’re told to believe.
🔄Step 4: Revisit and Evolve Your Values
As your team grows, your culture will naturally evolve. That’s why it’s important to check in on your values regularly:
- Are they still relevant?
- Do they reflect your current team and direction?
- Are there any gaps between stated values and actual behavior?
Culture doesn’t have to stay rigid—but it does need to stay intentional. Adjust your values if needed, and involve your team in that process to keep buy-in strong.
Proven Practices That Help Preserve Culture During Growth
Once your values are clear, the next challenge is living them—especially as your team expands across locations, time zones, or departments. To maintain culture in a growing company, you need practical, repeatable ways to keep people connected, aligned, and engaged.
Here are some proven practices that can help:
☕ Virtual Coffee Chats
Use platforms like CoffeePals to connect employees across teams and locations for informal chats. These simple conversations can build stronger bonds, improve communication, and reduce silos.
🤝 Onboarding Buddy System
Assign new hires a “culture buddy” who helps them understand your values, traditions, and people. It’s a powerful way to foster belonging from day one. Use CoffeePals’ Onboarding Pals to streamline the process.
🧠 Leadership Visibility and Accessibility
Encourage regular interaction between leadership and employees through Meet the CEO sessions or open feedback forums. The Exec Encounters program via CoffeePals also creates stronger connections between leaders and employees.
🎉 Recognition Programs
Celebrate wins that reflect your values. Whether it's through an Employee of the Month program or an employee recognition board, regular recognition builds pride and encourages others to do the same. Programs like Shoutout CoffeeMaker also allow team members to recognize each other’s contributions.
📈 Regular One-on-One Check-Ins
Give managers the space and support to check in personally with team members. Meaningful one-on-one conversations create a safe space for feedback, surface potential issues early, and help reinforce cultural alignment through consistent, human connection.
🧩 Cross-Functional Collaboration
Encourage cross-functional collaboration across departments with programs like The Shoe Swap or Team Blender. These initiatives help break down silos, foster empathy, and promote a deeper understanding of how different teams contribute to shared goals.
🌐 Culture Champions
Appoint team members from different departments and levels to serve as culture ambassadors. These individuals can champion core values, lead engagement initiatives, and help bridge the gap between leadership and the wider team by keeping culture grounded in everyday experiences.
🧭 Values-Based Hiring
Design interview questions and evaluations around your core values. Hire people who align not just with the job description, but with your culture.
📢 Transparent Communication
Communicate company updates frequently and with transparency. When employees understand what’s happening and why, it builds trust, reduces uncertainty, and fosters a culture where people feel informed, valued, and included.
🧘 Wellness and Work-Life Balance Initiatives
Support employee well-being with flexible schedules and mental health days. Launch wellness initiatives like step challenges and no-junkfood Wednesdays. A healthy team is a connected and committed team.
🗓️ Rituals and Traditions
Establish and maintain fun team rituals—like Friday shoutouts, monthly team lunches, or annual talent shows. Start the right conversations through the CoffeePals Coffee Maker program to create shared moments promoting identity and joy.
🛠️ Consistent Onboarding Experience
Make onboarding a clear reflection of your culture, values, and expectations. Include storytelling, shadowing, and even virtual meet-and-greets. Get new team members connected right away through Onboarding Pals.
📚 Learning and Growth Opportunities
Offer internal workshops, career development chats, or cross-training sessions. Growth is part of culture, and people stay when they feel like they’re evolving. Have team members participate in Productivity Sessions and help them boost each other’s performance.
🪴 Feedback-Focused Culture
Encourage upward and peer-to-peer feedback. Tools like anonymous surveys or focus group discussions can help surface honest insights.
🎨 Visual Culture Cues
Use your digital platforms to visually reinforce your culture—whether through Slack emojis, custom Zoom backgrounds, branded slide decks, or virtual celebration walls.
Keeping Culture Strong as You Grow
Culture doesn’t stay strong on its own—it needs to be nurtured, especially during periods of rapid growth. As your company scales, staying intentional about your values and the everyday practices that support them becomes more important than ever. Without that focus, even the most vibrant culture can quietly slip away.
The key is consistency and connection. From how you welcome new hires to how leaders engage with teams, every interaction is a chance to reinforce who you are and what you stand for.
Tools like CoffeePals make it easier to maintain these connections across growing teams, creating casual moments for people to talk, share, and stay aligned with your culture.
Growth will bring change, but your culture doesn’t have to get lost in the process. With the right strategies and a commitment to living your values every day, you can build a company where culture scales with your success.
Ready to learn more about workplace culture? Read this next: How to Measure Organizational Culture
