Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first – Simon Sinek
Do your employees love your company?
This may seem like an inconsequential question to business owners and leaders. Or even impossible to answer, but the answer to this question is at the core of having a sustainable, successful business or not.
In business terms this love refers to company culture. Company culture determines how your employees interact and how the business performs. Leaders need to understand their business’ culture and how to affect it.
Company Culture
Company culture can be defined as the shared vision, values, goals, practises and attitudes of a business. It reflects how the employees function within the business and how the business is perceived externally.
The company’s culture defines the character of the business and provides the backbone to be successful and sustainable.
Having a positive company culture does not just happen. It must be built and nurtured.
Define what you want.
To build a positive culture, leadership must define what this means for their business. What do you want the character of your business to be?
Defining the company culture will include more than just the policies, processes, traditions, benefits and parties. These are important and need to be defined, communicated and implemented; but character goes beyond these.
Here are a few considerations that will assist with this process of defining the culture you want:
- What values do you want to be embedded in all areas of the business?
- What are the preferred behaviours and attitudes you want associated with the business?
- What performance from employees do you want to recognise?
- Is it a safe space for new ideas and where mistakes can be learned from?
Once there is an understanding of what you want, the process starts of working towards that culture. This is a continuous process with values and recruitment at the heart of it.
Values
The foundation of a positive success culture in any business is shared core values.
The word ‘value’ comes from the Latin “Valere”, which means be worth. Value can be defined as the worth, usefulness or importance of someone or something.
Company values state what the business stands for. The core values motivate and drives the why of the business.
Values therefore are the GPS or compass that keeps the employees and the business on course towards the vision. It guides all decision making and interactions.
Evaluate the values of your business. Are the values supporting the vision and mission of the business?
Define each of the values for the business. It must be clear what is meant with the value in the context of the business.
Communicate the values clearly and consistently to embed them in the culture of your business.
Recruit with culture in mind.
As company culture is the shared character of the business and therefore the workforce; it is a crucial measure during recruitment. Most of the culture is shaped when you hire your team. The current employees and leadership have shaped the current company culture.
New hires must fit the defined company culture. Each new hire brings new ingredients to the current dynamic. You need to hire people that will fit with the culture you have defined and want.
Skills can often be taught, but values and attitude are engrained in people and are harder to change. Assessment of culture fit should form part of the interview process.
People that fit with the culture will be more positive and productive as well as add to the experience you want for customers.
Conclusion
Identifying with the company culture builds unity, collaboration, teamwork and ownership amongst employees. They belong to something they value, understand and want to protect. This is what the customers will then experience.
If you were a customer or employee of your business, what would you experience? Will you come back for more?
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