Company Culture – the most important part of any business!

“Ultimately, it’s on the company leaders to set the tone. Not only the CEO but the leaders across the company. If you select them so carefully that they then hire the right people, it’s a nice self-fulfilling prophecy.”– Tim Cook, CEO, Apple.

Is your business an ambassador of company culture? We think it’s the most important part of any business!

By Definition:

“Company culture is the personality of a business. It defines the environment in which employees work. Culture contains a variety of elements, including; work environment, mission, values, ethics, expectations, and goals.”

Our views are based on interviewing thousands of candidates and industry leaders:

Having a well-received company culture is crucial [that’s obviously unless you’re in a room on your own]. However, for those leaders not sat in their underwear at home operating as a lone ranger, it’s important to know that having the best products or services simply isn’t enough!

If you are looking to develop a thriving company then culture is vital, it’s the undercurrent of a successful business whereby values and beliefs are embedded throughout. It also ensures a subconscious bond between employee & employer creating maximum engagement. Having an engaged workforce offers many benefits, such as improved productivity, higher quality of work, better customer experience and going the extra mile. It can even prevent your staff from considering higher salary offers elsewhere!

Most of us have experience working for toxic companies or managers at some stage in our career [they seem unavoidable]. Those who behave this way will only go so far, they never achieve the full subconscious bond of the more sophisticated industry setters! Sometimes they do have the best product, the best customers, and the best quality but unfortunately have the emotional intelligence of an Ant so never reach their goals.

Statistics:

It is said that one of the top correlations between workplace morale and employee happiness is company culture alignment.

• Figures show that 70% of employees say that their peers make their workplace a better environment.
• Nearly two-thirds of employers say that their company does not have a strong workplace culture.
• Negative company cultures are attributed to 38% of candidates leaving their current positions.
• 79% of people in the UK feel like they are not engaged with their work due to poor culture.

Here are some warning signs of a negative culture in the workplace:

• Poor internal communication
• Micromanagement and dictatorship culture
• Lack of empathy from management
• Poor discipline
• Missing deadlines
• Lack of peer to peer respect
• Staff turnover
• High staff sickness
• Overall underperformance

Walt Rakowich replaced a former CEO of Prologis after stocks fell 96% and hit a new low of $9.50 per share on 6^th March 2009. Once he took over he regained control and brought the company back from ruins, he said that one of the key factors that he believes needed altering was their company culture was poisoned, corrupt and polluted with negativity.

Company Culture Tips;

• Making sure your employees know your companies ethics, values and beliefs is a key element in running a smooth and effective business.
• Educate them on your processes and procedures, offer a reward for executing them effectively.
• Lead by example, acknowledge and encourage success.
• Have fun! Don’t manage through misery and fear or set a culture of constant pointless meetings.
• As a Leadership team, set smart objectives – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Based.
• Empower your people, don’t scare them with dictator threats. Someone once said ‘This is a dictatorship, not a democracy.’ It won’t surprise you to learn that the demise of their business quickly followed.
• Coach rather than manage, aim to employ people who can manage themselves.
• Recruit for attitude and culture alignment over skills and experience [skills can be taught], an idiot is always an idiot!
• Allow people to express themselves and be innovators.
• If you treat your staff well, they will go the extra mile for the business and your customers.
• Be firm but fair, getting the right balance is key. Don’t set a hippy culture, your staff will drop Mondays as a working day, yet avoid screaming at them to get on the phones because they’ll be counting the days until Friday!
• Treat everyone how you would like to be treated.
• It’s not Wolf of Wall Street. Pinstripe suits are no longer cool and dog eat dog doesn’t work – it’s 2021, not the 80’s!

These are some basic tips amongst many others. In summary; ensure values and ethics are clear, set smart objectives, coach and encourage with collaboration – success will soon follow.

If you’d like further advice on this then we suggest you head over to https://gofounder.com/the-people/, a website dedicated to helping new businesses get the right balance between culture, people, products, and money.

Sources-

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-company-culture-2062000

https://blog.enplug.com/37-company-culture-quotes

https://www.recruiter.com/i/10-company-culture-experts-you-should-pay-attention-to/

https://inside.6q.io/10-warning-signs-negative-corporate-culture/