Defining a Winning Corporate Culture

What is Corporate Culture

According to Investopedia.com, the corporate culture definition is  “beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions.”

The corporate culture of a business is reflected in many ways including how it structures

• Goals
• Strategies
• Customer interactions
• Investor relationships
• Community
• Dress code
• Business hours
• Office setup
• Employee benefits
• Hiring decisions
• And more

A company’s corporate culture is generally implied and develops organically over time based on the traits of its’ employees.

Since corporate culture makes up much of an organization’s viewpoint, developing a defined optimal culture can be crucial for long-term success and scalability.

Corporate Culture Examples

All businesses have a corporate culture, whether it has been identified or not. Some companies stand out as having a positive, supportive, and inspiring culture that makes it an exceptional workplace.  

Here are 3 well-known companies, that have developed a well respected and positive corporate culture according to Entrepreneur.com.

Zappos

Zappos is an online shoe store that emphasizes building a strong positive culture.  Half of the weight of the hiring process is based on the results of a cultural fit interview. It is given to determine whether a new employee would fit in with the current company culture.

They go a step further by offering any employee $2,000 if they choose to quit within the first week if they determine the job is not a good fit.

Instead of promotions and raises going to those in the top social circle, they are awarded to employees who pass skills tests and showcase improved job skills.

The corporate culture of Zappos demonstrates that maintaining a positive and fair work environment is a necessity.

Twitter

Twitter, one of the top social media platforms, has defined its corporate culture as one that is team oriented and laid back.

By offering rooftop meetings, free employee meals at the headquarters, and even yoga classes, Twitter wants to ensure their employees are happy because satisfied employees are willing to go above and beyond while on the job.

Squarespace

Squarespace has risen in popularity as one of the best website creation platforms and is regularly voted as a top workplace in New York City.

With 100% health insurance premium coverage, flexible vacation offerings, catered meals, a fully stocked kitchen, monthly celebrations, and even a relaxation space in the office, there is no wonder professionals love working at Squarespace.

The Importance of Corporate Culture

As the previous examples demonstrate, the corporate culture of a business can shape how it operates.

With Twitter’s laid-back team-oriented environment, discussing necessary changes and new initiatives is likely more comfortable to do.  

Along the same lines, interdepartmental collaboration is probably a painless process.

If the culture was one of no teamwork and being afraid to communicate, crucial conversations wouldn’t take place or would be met with so much static they would lose value.

Developing a corporate culture has three main benefits.

Define Identity

Defining the corporate culture helps a business to identify its values and identity.  Without an idea of the culture, it’s difficult to develop a set of consistent values.

Increase Retention

A company with a strong culture attracts better employees, and once hired those employees stay longer.

This leads to a reduced turnover rate, fewer new hires, and improved chemistry amongst employees because their team remains consistent.

High turnover rates are a clear sign of an issue within a business’ corporate culture.

Define Image

The corporate culture defines the image of a company. Depending on the type of business, customers and clients can see how employees are treated which can boost sales and customer loyalty.

Social media platforms showcasing parts of the company culture can bring potential customers or clients to the business because they are attracted to the culture they see.

The image is also a part of attracting high-quality employees.

Defining Corporate Culture

The concept of defining corporate culture is a very personal one.  

Not just to the management team or the CEO, but to the entire business as a whole.

No one can define your culture for you.

It should be developed after receiving input from every member of the organization from the custodial staff to the President.

Here are 15 questions you can ask to start defining the corporate culture of your company.

• How is feedback managed?
• Who gets promoted?
• What behaviors are rewarded?
• What five words describe the company?
• How does the management team support and motivate employees?
• Who fits in and who doesn’t?
• What causes conflict and how is it resolved?
• Is risk-taking encouraged?
• What’s one thing you would change about the company if you could?
• What makes you proud to work for this company?
• How would you describe the organizational politics at the company?
• Who in the organization has the power to get things done?
• What kind of flexible work arrangements are available
• How does the organization support your professional development and career growth?
• What role do company values play in hiring and performance reviews?

Just as a reminder, these questions should not only be asked to the upper management team.  Allow all employees to provide input. The more information that’s collected, the better understanding you will have of the current corporate culture, potential areas of growth, and areas that are thriving.  

A critical component of corporate culture is high employee engagement. If your employees are asking, what is company culture, it’s important to get them engaged in the process.  If increasing employee commitment is a part of the corporate culture that you need to improve, click here to download a free copy of my book, 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement. When you develop a positive corporate culture with fair practices and policies that engage your employees, your business has a higher chance of success over time.

Why Your Business Should Be Strategic Planning

All businesses are unique, but one thing many successful business owners have in common is the practice of strategic planning.  This plan is used to ensure they have an understanding of their vision, their goals, and the steps needed to make these ideas a reality.

A strategic plan is “a systematic process of envisioning a desired future and translating this vision into broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them” according to BusinessDictionary.com.

All business owners should develop and frequently revisit their strategic plan.  The definition includes the reasons why it’s vital to business success, but I will break them down further below.

You Envision Your Desired Future

Have you ever gotten in a car destined to have the best vacation ever without your GPS turned on or a destination in mind?  I doubt it. Moreover, if you did, it’s unlikely that your trip was successful.

Whenever you take action, you have an idea of what you want your result to be.

When you get a haircut, you envision a specific style.

When you paint your bedroom, you know the emotion you want the color to evoke.

When you get married, you envision living happily ever after with your spouse.

Strategic planning allows you to do the same thing.

Envisioning a future for your business takes you out of the present and catapults you into the future, so your actions are working towards reaching your target.

You Develop Broadly Defined Goals or Objectives

Having a vision for your future allows you to set goals or objectives that will enable you to work towards that vision.

Setting proper goals is crucial for any business because it takes your vision and makes it more concrete.  

Real Life Example

Your long-range travel goal is to visit every continent by your 60th birthday.

How will you turn that dream into a reality?  It starts by setting broad goals. You don’t need to define every detail from the beginning, just developing a general understanding is a great start.

For example

• I will visit Europe by 35 years old.
• I will visit Africa by 40 years old.
• I will visit South America by 45 years old.
• I will visit Australia by 50 years old.
• I will visit Asia by 55 years old.
• I will visit Antarctica by 60 years old.

These broad goals alone will not turn your overarching vision into a reality, however, identifying them start to make your concept more concrete.

You Develop a Sequence of Steps to Achieve Your Goals

Now that you have an overall vision along with broadly defined goals or objectives, strategic planning calls for you to break down each goal into actionable steps that make it achievable.

Having a vision is excellent and setting goals is even better, but without the actionable steps that follow, your goal will likely never be achieved.  The steps turn it into a plan which is what every business owner needs.

Your vision, goals, and plan are the trifecta that make up strategic planning.

Real Life Example

To continue with the example that was provided in the previous section, let’s take the first goal and break it down into actionable steps.

I will travel to Europe by my 35th birthday.

What steps will make that possible?

1. Decide on a location
2. Decide on a date
3. Decide who will accompany you
4. Book your hotel
5. Book your flight
6. Plan your itinerary
7. Pack your bags
8. Set a timer the night before the trip to arrive at the airport on time

Now you have a plan that will help you reach your goal!

If you find yourself still asking, “What is Strategic Planning” or want a more in-depth explanation of what a strategic business plan is and the benefits of strategic planning you can read another blog post I wrote on this topic entitled The 5 Benefits of Strategic Planning For Your Business.

Why You Need Strategic Planning

I included a strategic planning example related to travel because we can all relate to the concept. As simplistic as it seems, that’s ultimately how simple your business strategic plan can be.  

Just remove the travel elements and replace the vision, goals, and plan you have for your business.

If you think you can travel to every continent before you’re 60 years old without goals or a plan, then by all means, maybe you don’t need to implement strategic planning in your business.

However, if you’re like the rest of the world and realize that goals and a plan help you to reach your vision faster, it’s time to implement one now.  

If you already have a strategic plan that sits in a folder on your laptop that you never refer to, it’s time to pull it up.  

A strategic plan is a living document, as your business grows and changes so should your vision, your goals, and your plan.

Develop your strategic plan, regularly revisit it and update it. That’s the key to successful strategic planning.

If your company has employees, full time or part time, it’s essential that they be up to date on your strategic plan and follow it with fidelity. Gaining employee buy-in and engagement is crucial to business success.

If you’re looking for a tool to help you improve your employee engagement, you need to download a free copy of my book, “5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement.”  You can download your copy here.  Its features best practices for getting your employees engaged in your company’s success. Strategic planning is most beneficial when everyone is on board and committed.

Have you fallen off the “Why Wagon”?

A very dear friend reached out to tell me she was hosting a 14-Day Examine Your Why Challenge. I graciously accepted the challenge. Truth be told, this challenge came at a very good time for me. You see, I’ve fallen off the “why wagon”. My poor blog has been neglected. I have been suffering from shiny object syndrome. Running from here to there, trying to be everything to every one and I lost sight of my mission. Has this ever happened to you?

Little did I know that when I accepted my friends challenge, it would be more than just examining my “why”. I felt called to begin writing on my blog again. Day 1 already has me thankful that I decided to examine my “why”. Here are some thoughts that came out of my time of reflection:

What are the 3 biggest barriers keeping you from reaching your ultimate dream?

I took a while to reflect on this. Here’s what I came up with.

1. Comparison Syndrome: We’ve all heard the adage that “comparison is the thief of joy”. This has become a hindrance for me. I’ve been so busy focusing on how far others have come, that I was beating myself up for my perceived lack of progress. If it holds true that where focus goes, energy flows. Then it would stand to reason why my “flow” wasn’t where it needed to be. My focus was on comparing someone else’s highlight reel to my every day life.
2. Lack of Kindness: Showing kindness to others comes naturally to me. Those who know me are aware that my favorite saying is “Love always wins”. Somewhere along the way, I stopped applying that principle to myself. I have been guilty of not showing kindness to myself. Let’s face it, you can’t berate yourself skinny, rich, or into any other goal you want to achieve. I need to remember to treat myself with the same love and compassion that I would show others. Self-love is where I will start.
3. Clarity: I was lacking clarity of my goal or big dream. I consider myself to be multi-passionate. Meaning that there are many things I am interested in and many things I excel in. Having been in leadership so long, I know that without clarity of purpose, we cannot achieve the goal. I can’t give my team hazy directions with multiple #1 priorities. So, why was I allowing myself to fall into this trap of scatterbrained goal setting? I had to take a step back and as myself what my #1 goal was, then refocus all of my efforts on attaining that 1 goal.

I appreciate this challenge for giving me the kick in the pants I need to get back on track. I’m excited to see what the next 2 weeks brings. Have you been lacking focus? Do you need a kick in the pants? Let us know what you do when you’ve fallen off the “why wagon”.