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Even experienced entrepreneurs and business owners often struggle when building a strong cultural foundation for their businesses. In fact, some business owners don’t fully understand why it’s important for a company to have a strong culture or what makes a culture strong.<\/p>\n
Company culture is not about ping pong tables, fruit baskets, or free massages.<\/p>\n
But what makes for a strong company culture?<\/p>\n
Strong company culture is a common set of beliefs and behaviors among the company’s employees. An organization\u2019s culture is not something your employees bring with them on their first day on the job. It exists through careful cultivation or through natural evolution, and it plays a big role in the success and productivity of an organization.<\/p>\n
Here’s what most leaders and managers misunderstand: leaders and managers cannot fiat their company’s culture. They can, however, support the culture or take steps to undermine it.<\/p>\n
A well-defined, celebrated culture promotes an organization\u2019s identity in a way that nothing else can, and preserving it is an integral part of a flourishing business. In fact, one of the most important things you can do to ensure the success of your business is to create and maintain a strong company culture.<\/p>\n
According to Professor James L. Heskett<\/a>,<\/p>\n effective culture can account for 20-30 percent of the differential in corporate performance when compared with \u2018culturally unremarkable\u2019 competitors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cA company\u2019s culture and a company\u2019s brand are really just two sides of the same coin,\u201d wrote Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh in his acclaimed book Delivering Happiness. He continues:<\/p>\n What goes around the office comes around to the customer. We wanted employees that really believed in our long term vision and really felt like this was the right culture for them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now that we know company culture, how can you nurture your organization\u2019s culture?<\/p>\n No company culture can survive without hiring the right employees<\/a>. You want employees whose own values and goals align with your company\u2019s. This starts with the hiring process.<\/p>\n Ex-GE CEO Jack Welsh put it this way<\/a>:<\/p>\n It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In fact, research<\/a>\u00a0shows that people whose goals and beliefs fit with their companies are more satisfied with their jobs, do their jobs more effectively, and are less likely to leave.<\/p>\n Hiring for cultural<\/a> fit means having a defined set of values so you know what you want from prospective candidates.<\/p>\n A company\u2019s culture is a work in progress that can evolve and change over time. Ensuring new employees feel comfortable asking questions and talking with you will help keep everyone moving in the same direction.<\/p>\n Receive six actionable guides, including a how to start a business checklist, detailed comparisons of LLCs, corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships to determine the best fit for your business, plus insights on crafting a compelling pitch deck to attract investors.<\/p> Receive six actionable guides, including a how to start a business checklist, detailed comparisons of LLCs, corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships to determine the best fit for your business, plus insights on crafting a compelling pitch deck to attract investors.<\/p> Receive six actionable guides, including a how to start a business checklist, detailed comparisons of LLCs, corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships to determine the best fit for your business, plus insights on crafting a compelling pitch deck to attract investors.<\/p> Recognize when your employees do something to embody your company\u2019s culture. Public recognition and praise<\/a> are good ways to restate what the values are and can also build morale. Public praise is also an effective way to inspire the best work from your employees, as O.C. Tanner<\/a>\u00a0found. 37% of the study\u2019s respondents said recognition would motivate them to work better. There were several other drivers of great work, such as pay, promotions, and autonomy, but recognition was the highest.<\/p>\n Integrating recognition into your company\u2019s DNA is important, especially when you\u2019re using it to evangelize and extend your values and culture. Don\u2019t just call out major achievements. Zappos is famous for how it recognizes and rewards its employees<\/a>, from coworkers being able to nominate each other for $50 bonuses to getting a really good parking spot if you \u201cWOW\u201d another employee.<\/p>\n One way that people learn is by example, and helping your company\u2019s culture flourish means setting a good one from the top on down. To get an idea of what behavior is acceptable, employees look to their managers<\/a>, who look to their managers, all the way up to the executive level.<\/p>\n Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst said about corporate culture<\/a>,<\/p>\n Culture is learned behavior \u2014 it\u2019s not a by-product of operations. It\u2019s not an overlay. We create our organizational culture by the actions we take; not the other way around.[…] It\u2019s easy to think that building a culture is about other people\u2019s behaviors, not how you act as a leader. But I believe that culture change begins when leaders start to model the behavior they want the organization to emulate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In a Twitter post<\/a>, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh likened this to the murmuration of starlings, where giant flocks of birds play a breathtakingly sublime game of follow-the-leader, always moving in unison behind a group of lead birds.<\/p>\n Spreading your culture throughout your organization works similarly: start by setting the example<\/a>, and it will propagate throughout the rest of the company.<\/p>\n Companies may not be families, but many traits of a healthy family are found throughout a company’s culture. In addition to communication, respect, good examples, and recognition, traditions play a large role. Integrating and preserving company traditions can make them into signposts through time that employees can rely on.<\/p>\n SinglePlatform\u2019s Scott Britton recognizes the value of tradition<\/a>:<\/p>\n One aspect that separates one company from another are the people and the things that you do together. When you do fun, rewarding things as a company, it\u2019s awesome. And when those things feel unique to your company, I think they\u2019re all the more powerful.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Whatever form your traditions take, try to incorporate elements of your company\u2019s values. For example, if one of your company values is, \u201cWe go above and beyond and give back when we can,\u201d you could set up scheduled volunteer days where employees get the day to help a charity they believe in. At the end of the day, everyone could gather to share stories and experiences from their day with the rest of the company.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s a quarterly \u201call-hands\u201d meeting, bi-weekly game nights<\/a> on the rooftop patio, or engaging team building activities<\/a>, company traditions unite people in a way that makes your organization unique.<\/p>\n Workplace communication<\/a> is a critical element of any company\u2019s success and a strong culture of engagement<\/a>. We can\u2019t collaborate effectively without good communication. Communication is a key component to a company\u2019s culture<\/a>. Other important components include sharing information, making decisions, and how your employees interact.<\/p>\n Create a workplace where employees feel empowered<\/a> to share their thoughts, ideas, and comments. Your executive team should be equally empowered to listen and act on what they hear. Otherwise, you risk misinformation and communication breakdowns that threaten your employees\u2019 ability to innovate and work together.<\/p>\n Not only do your company\u2019s values thrive and spread through good and effective communication<\/a>, but good communication means good business.<\/p>\n A \u00a02010 WillisTowersWatson study<\/a>\u00a0on the costs and benefits of good communications found that:<\/p>\n companies that are highly effective communicators had 47 percent higher total returns to shareholders over the last five years compared with firms that are the least effective communicators.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To promote strong communication, create an open dialogue between your executive team and the rest of the company. You want to encourage communication by ensuring employees are not afraid to speak their minds, so show them that all ideas, comments, and ideas are welcome. Find and integrate tools to enable effective communication internally<\/a>, whether using internal Slack\u00a0channels or something as essential as scheduled one-on-ones between managers and their direct reports.<\/p>\n Your company\u2019s culture is a living artifact that evolves and grows over time. But remember, great company culture cannot be built overnight. It takes time, planning, and careful action. Leaders and managers must ensure that they’re encouraging good values and behavior by promoting:<\/p>\nHire right<\/h2>\n
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Free Business Startup Kit<\/h2>
Get your free startup kit<\/i><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>Free Business Startup Kit<\/h2>
Get your free startup kit<\/i><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>Free Business Startup Kit<\/h2>
Get your free startup kit<\/i><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\nSystematize recognition<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nGet leadership on board<\/h2>\n
Preserve company traditions<\/h2>\n
Encourage communication<\/h2>\n
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