Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Suppose you own a small retail store and have decided to add e-commerce. You work long and hard with the best the consultants and launch a brilliant online strategy that you're sure will bring in stacks of digital dollars — if your team is on board with the innovative, highly responsive approach you need to online sales and customer service.
If they're still stuck in “the way we've always done it” and stick to their 9-to-5-and-home attitude, your forward-thinking strategy is doomed to failure.
Company culture eats strategy for lunch every day and every time. Strategies are important, but most of them change with the economy, finances, world events, and other temporary circumstances. Culture it is a steady and enduring force that empowers you to face challenges and enables you to meet them. If you have the right culture, you can overcome anything that comes your way.
Culture I kept my company going through the 2008-09 recession that hit many businesses hard. Not only did we have layoffs, but we asked our senior executives to take less, and they did so without hesitation. We weathered the COVID pandemic by asking our teams to step up to help franchise owners. It is because of the behaviors and norms we have cultivated that we have been able to unite and create success in uncertain circumstances.
Cultivation of culture
there are many types of culture, from casual and familiar to formal and hierarchical – the type you encourage depends on the results you want to achieve. And you won't necessarily have a single type of culture, but you can combine elements from more than one.
For example, my company thrives on a family culture where everyone knows and likes each other, and we have lots of social events to help people get to know each other. But we're also focused on results, so we like to create friendly but serious competitions and do a great job recognizing the top manufacturers. You might be in a creative business or a startup where disruptive, “outside the box” thinking is encouraged, but you're still managed with a layered structure so your creativity doesn't go off the rails.
Think of it as a garden. Your culture must be carefully cultivated to produce the results you desire. Pick the wrong “seeds” – people you hire and promote — and you may end up with teams that don't match each other's work styles or don't understand your company's values. They can even work against it. An employee who does not fit the culture can become a disgruntled employee, and a disgruntled employee is a less productive employee.
This does not mean that everyone has to be exactly the same and march in step with each other. Someone who is a little different can make interesting contributions that the rest of the team may never have thought of. I have seen employees who are not quite connected to the team, but are very effective – they put their heads down and work harder than others. Maybe they won't be a manager or leaderbut they can still produce at a high level.
Related: Learn the Secrets of Running 20+ Businesses as a Side Hustle — Find and Educate Your 'STIC People'
How do you know yours? culture are you working It's not as easy as testing a new machine or software. The signs are more subtle, but if you see these positive signs, you'll know you're on the right track:
-
Employees come early and stay late. This shows you that they care about your company and the work they do for you. It should be understood, but this commitment must come with their decision. Otherwise, they are just following your orders.
-
They help each other to score goals. This suggests that they want to help the team succeed and, by extension, the company.
Growing your culture and keeping it healthy
It is crucial that hiring managers consider culture fit when interviewing candidates and take it as seriously as skills and experience. Recruiting the right people should be one of the most important things managers do because they protect it culture which is very important in the success of the company. Compatibility should be the first item on your interview checklist.
Keep your garden healthy by removing weeds negative employees from your teams – better yet don't hire them. As they say, attitude is everything, so the moment you see an issue, you can't ignore it. Point it and press it. The “I told you so” people will also negatively influence you, as they were never 100% on board.
It's hard enough to run a successful business. The last thing you need are negative people keeping your garden from thriving. As an owner, president or CEO, your number one priority is to build and maintain your company culture. As you grow the business, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the culture, but you have to work at it every day. Keep fighting the fight and don't let it slip, or you may wake up in a different society—one you don't know.
Related: Taking Control of Your Life Through Franchise (Webinar)
