Company culture is an amazing thing. It shapes the way your organization is perceived. It sets the pace of work and the way decisions are made. It impacts the people you are able to recruit. It is the responsibility of everyone and no one at the same time.
How can it be no one’s responsibility? That may be an overly simplistic statement, but the point is that no single person can declare, change or be held responsible for the corporate culture. The culture does start at the top, because how the leaders treat their co-workers and their employees will resonate throughout the organization.
An individual treated with respect and trust is more likely to treat others with respect and trust. An individual berated by their boss is far more likely to turn around and do the same thing to others. But a single person can’t stand up and declare that a new culture will begin like they could with a new budget or product strategy.
So how do we impact and shape our corporate culture?
Assess your culture.
What is your culture now? How do people treat each other? How quickly do they respond? What is the pace of work? How willing are people to set deadlines? Are deadlines met? How do employees describe the company?
Evaluate the value of the current culture.
What parts of the current culture are productive? What parts of the culture appear to be creating problems? This is the delicate part. Beware of quick assumptions. Ask questions until you have the real answers to what is working or creating pain.
Reward the right behaviors.
When you recognize and reward behaviors, you will get more of that same behavior. Do you want speed? Reward the fastest producers. Do you want teamwork? Reward team players for helping others. Do you want innovation? Announce innovations that are added to the products or services you provide and innovations that help the company run better.
Communicate carefully but authentically.
Plaques and posters that don’t ring true to the team will destroy your efforts. But when you see a good thing happening repeatedly, promote it as part of the culture. Tie the stories of those successes to the culture of the business that helps make them happen. Tie the elements of the lore of the organization to the desired elements of the culture. This will reinforce the positive.
Hire for culture.
It often takes more effort to assess someone’s cultural fit in the organization than it does to test their skills, but the effort is worth it. Seldom do you hear stories about someone quitting or being terminated because they just didn’t have the right skill. It is almost always about their approach to dealing with others or the pace and style they use. If you can assess an individual’s ability to meet the cultural expectations of the organization, the result will be a more successful hire.
Trickle the good stuff into everything.
Unless the positive elements of the culture are widely agreed on and articulated, you are not ready to put a description of it on your coffee cups. But you can infuse the desired traits through all your areas of business. If speed is your need, then shorten your meetings and push the comfort zone to speed up the delivery of information. If innovation is spotlighted, then continually allow for new ways of doing things while applauding the risk-takers for even their small leaps of faith.
When a concerted effort is made to enhance the best parts of the culture, you will be rewarded with a stronger culture. ●
Lois Melbourne is co-founder and CEO of Aquire, a workforce planning and analytic solution company based in Irving, Texas. Visit www.aquire.com for more information.
