Steps to Build a Strong Corporate Culture
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It is just as important to create the right corporate culture as it is to define your business strategy.
Once you have established a strong culture, you create a great place to work with loyal and productive employees who will help your business grow.
If you do it wrong, you may have a bad reputation as an employer and have difficulty attracting top talent.
Or, in the worst case, you could make yourself the subject of damaging headlines.
Take Google, for example: the tech giant ran red several years ago after an employee published a memo arguing that women in tech were in short supply because of biological differences.
In addition to firing the employee, Google quickly underlined its commitment to diversity and inclusion. But the damage was done.
Uber also made headlines when an engineer wrote about the rampant culture of sexual harassment and sexism.
Since then, CEO Travis Kalanick has been dismissed and the company faces a series of lawsuits.
Why is it important to build a strong corporate culture?
So it is clear that a toxic corporate culture can have a serious impact on your public image and the health of your company. It can also have a negative impact on productivity, employee morale and - therefore - long-term growth.
Whether you have a team of 50 employees or just a handful, maintaining a strong corporate culture is crucial.
Without your employees, the critical gears of the business would no longer work. So it makes perfect sense to put your employees first.
6 steps to create a strong corporate culture
There are many things you can do to ensure that you build a winning culture as your business grows.
Define your values...
Your values are the reasons why you do what you do. It is what your business is built on.
They guide the way your employees behave, how they interact with each other and how they do their daily work.
Before you even think about defining your culture, you need to define your values.
Ask yourself:
What is the purpose of the company?
What should the company be known for?
What qualities do we value in our employees?
... And communicate them
Once you have nailed down your values, you must communicate them to your people.
How do your values translate into the day-to-day running of your business? Set expectations for your employees and provide guidelines for them.
Maybe bring your employees together for an afternoon and communicate your values in a committed and inspiring way. Invite them to participate - that way they will feel part of your vision.
In the future, make sure that each project or initiative is underpinned by your core values and that they are carefully communicated to each new employee who comes on board.
Attitude for cultural adaptation
It makes absolutely no sense to hire people who do not fit your values or your culture.
Make this an important part of the interview process. Ask candidates what they value in a company and assess whether or not they fit your culture.
If you don't do this, you could end up with an unproductive employee who is not on an equal footing with the rest of the team.
Define (and measure) success
What does success look like for you? And how will you know when you have arrived there?
It is important to create a means of measuring performance and success so that your employees are able to see how they are progressing both individually and collectively.
This could be as simple as introducing rewards for achieving goals or bonuses for achieving specific sales, customer sales or profits.
Be transparent
It will not always be easy, so do not try to hide the lows.
Instead, celebrate the highs and analyze the lows by consulting with employees about where things went wrong and what can be done in the future to improve them.
Be transparent about your successes as well - make sure that you participate in any upturn in revenue, exciting achievements and company growth.
In this way, you can make your employees feel like they are part of the journey,
Matching purpose with practice
Corporate values are quite useless if they are not put into practice. It is important to practice what you preach.
If you say that you are a company where people come first, and are passionate about your culture, make sure you prove that by investing in your people.
Let your employees know that they are sincerely valued and cared for, and you will be rewarded with a happy, dedicated and motivated team.
Read More... Types of Organization Culture: Which One is Your Company?
