Creating a Winning Company Culture Is Vital To Running A Successful Business!
Your company culture may be determined by directly asking your employees. The responses gleaned by asking, “What does our company stand for?” can provide input as to where your company is going, how your employees feel about their jobs, what your position is in the marketplace, and what your long term prospects appear to be to your workers. Company culture can be, at times, fairly intangible. Though it may seem like an organization is just naturally a “better place to work,” the steps that it takes to achieve such a reputation are quite deliberate. The common values, visions, and norms highly successful organizations are the result of lots of planning, implementation of ideas, and self-assessments. The following sections outline six key concepts that can help your company to create a winning culture:
Hire For Attitude, Not Aptitude – Then Train!
A well-respected, international organization promotes a simple “tie-breaker” when faced with two similarly qualified candidates. The message is to hire the candidate who smiles more during the interview. This is a simple distillation of “hiring for attitude… and not aptitude.” That said, it is nearly impossible to instill a good personality in an introverted employee, while a company is certainly able to train most candidates around the skills required of the position.
Establish and Communicate The Vision
Employees will work toward goals if they are clear, so part of creating a winning culture is defining what a “win” looks like! Leaders must establish clearly defined, measurable, and achievable goals that exist within a timeframe. For example, ABC organization is seeking to achieve a 10% increase in YOY revenues, which represents five additional sales per employee per month, and is seeking to recognize this increase by the end of Q4 of the current year. Ideally, employees should understand not only this this overall goal, but also what their additional activities and deliverables need to be on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, and the timeframe in which this goal must be met. It is also vital that they see the benefit to achieving this goal – both on an individual and at the corporate level.
Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone – Be Vulnerable
A winning culture is more easily adopted by leaders who have confidence in themselves, and by those who are willing to push the limits of their comfort zone. Ask your employees for feedback, act on those concerns, and foster a sense of community among your teams. Leading with the heart creates a culture in which employees feel that their thoughts and opinions are valued and appreciated.
Focus On A Few “Must Do’s”
Your company must determine what its “must-do’s” are. While creating a list of priorities is important, it is vital to narrow it down to the non-negotiable items and to clearly communicate these to your teams. Employees tend to thrive in environments that have boundaries – where employees at all levels play on the same field.
Create Bonding Rituals – No Winners Or Losers
One of the most overlooked facets to creating a winning culture is to establish bonding rituals among your staff. This can be as simple as team assignments during new employee orientations to elaborate yearly retreats that focus on recharging your team. Bonding rituals reinforce the notion of team, and also provide a great way to test your employees and gauge different personality types.
Become A Coach – Not Just a Boss Or Leader
Most effective leaders today agree that instilling a coaching philosophy at the workplace is vital. A winning company culture requires coaches who are invested in the success and development of their teams. Good leaders take people where they want to be, great coaches take their employees where they ought to be.
Company culture can be fairly intangible and transparent, yet it is one of the most important components of any business. Establish it early, live it daily, and you’ll reap the benefits of better employee retention and satisfaction, higher company performance, and a stellar reputation in your field.
