The most effective school cultures support great teaching and learning. As defined at a session of the National Institute for Urban School Leaders at the Harvard Graduate School in 2018, school culture is made up of connections, core beliefs and behaviors of students, families and educators.

Six elements of great workplace culture

• Community. At Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®, employees express a sense of winning together when times are good—and sticking together when times are tough.
• Fairness. Humans place a high value on fairness.
• Trustworthy Management.
• Innovation.
• Trust.
• Caring.

Success, joy, and accomplishment are all main features of a positive school culture. When your school has a positive culture, teachers are excited to work because they see the bigger picture, and students are in a better position (mentally and emotionally) to learn.

What’s considered a healthy work culture? It’s one where employees feel valued, safe, comfortable, and flush with opportunity for growth. In a partnership with The Ladders, we took a close look at some of the factors that affect employees’ career decisions—many of which can strongly affect work culture.

Culture means to me where you came from. To me culture doesn’t limit where you can go or what your values are, yet where you came from and what gives you the blood in your body. Culture means family, friends, people you belong to. Culture is your backbone and the blood in your veins.

If you’ve never done so before, use these five action-steps to critique—and ultimately improve—the culture of your organization.

1. Evaluate the onboarding process.
2. Gauge openness within leadership.
3. Look at incentive programs (or lack thereof)
4. Observe team interactions.
5. Determine attitudes from answers.