HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN
CULTURE CLUB
We all know it takes passion and purpose, plus a healthy dose of hard work and resilience to set up your own business. But as your company grows how do you create a culture that people want to be part of?
IS IT UNREALISTIC OF OWNERS TO EXPECT EVERYONE TO FEEL THE SAME ABOUT THEIR OWN BUSINESS?
Business owners can assume that everyone joining their company should, and will, possess the same values, vision and passion, as they do. I mean you went through a rigorous recruitment process, right? Why wouldn’t people just ‘get it’?
Business owners and leaders also underestimate the importance of really defining what these ‘rules of the game’ actually are and how they contribute to the culture they’ve tried to create.
A failure to critique and test the robustness of the processes that should be protecting the business, and potential employees, from the ‘bad fit’ conversation can just mean that a lot of it is left to gut feel or even a desire to recruit in your own image. A significant amount of energy, time and money is invested from both sides during the recruitment process, but how much of it is dedicated to articulating whether the fit is right at the outset? If you’ve spent the time defining your values, why wouldn’t you want to road test them with a potential recruit?
Research conducted by Robert Walters found that over 70% of people had left a job because they disliked the company culture. And over two thirds (67%) felt that they had been misled about company culture during the induction process.
WHAT IS YOUR COMPANY'S PERSONALITY AND HOW SHOULD EVERYONE SHOW UP? AND PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT IS IT NOT?
At Avenue Coaching & Consultancy we talk about creating and defining a culture that supports your businesses’ ambitions; specifically attracting, retaining and developing talent. If you get this right, your culture can and will become an asset and a reason for people to join, develop and even purchase your business.
When defining any strategy for your business it is important to assess the commercial benefits of any actions you propose to take – so why should defining your company culture be any different? And to be clear…this is more than offering a great benefits package or free pizza Fridays. This is fundamentally about outlining what it means to be on the team, all the actions you take will support the culture and how you’re going to measure the return on investment (ROI).
So, the best thing business leaders can do when creating their culture club is to remember it shouldn’t be a ‘top down’ approach. Telling people what your cultural values are fails to recognise that everyone has a choice as to how they show up. Seeking your team’s input to what these values are will make everyone more personally accountable, ensuring that any problems to iron out in relation to culture don’t just become a management problem to solve.
A Forbes article from 2016 suggested there were five culture problems that could block your business success:
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Absence of a plan – no one understands the rules of the game.
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Stifling bureaucracy – micromanaging and relying on hierarchy to lead others.
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Politics over performance – no definition of how reward or recognition can be measured.
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Fear of speaking up – unhealthy approach to debate, discussion or conflict management
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Good ideas not being implemented – fear of change or people’s individual position threatened.
Over the past few years so much has changed in relation to the workplace and our attitude to work so it is no surprise that people are evaluating what really matters when it comes to joining or dedicating their careers to prospective employers. Leaders not only have to consider the usual workplace challenges but also contend with hybrid/remote working and how to keep teams connected. An alignment on values, goals and culture can be the basis to make this work.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT AND WHAT COULD BUSINESS OWNERS LEARN FROM THIS?
The first step of creating a great culture is recognising how it can determine whether your business succeeds or fails. Placing a level of importance to culture will mean you will seek to reinforce your values and behaviours at every opportunity.
This means that you will be auditing yourself against what could be an ever-moving target. Your communications, performance management and even external brand values can be directly influenced by your culture strategy.
(reference to Forbes article: The Five Culture Problems That Make People Quit (forbes.com))