Your business has a culture, but is it the one you want?
Having a strong company culture is essential for any successful business. It impacts how your team feels about their work and affects your organization’s overall performance. But is organizational culture something you can directly manage and control, or does it happen accidentally? Let’s find out.
What Are the Elements of Company Culture?
Culture is what employees do when you’re not around—it’s how day-to-day tasks and behaviors fall into place without you consciously directing them. We define the culture of a small business as having three components:
- Beliefs or Worldview
- Values
- Purpose or Why
Your experiences develop your Beliefs or Worldview. Your Beliefs drive your Values. Your Values dictate your Culture. Finally, your Culture impacts your ability to implement the actions needed to accomplish goals.
Why Is Culture Important in Business?
Is culture really important for small businesses? We think it’s more than important—it’s THE foundation for everything that happens in your business. Your business already has a culture. But is it a good culture? Is it the culture you want or is it an accidental culture? For example, if an organization states that part of its culture is to value diverse viewpoints, but leaders and managers don’t take the time to listen to perspectives and experiences different from their own, the business can suffer from a misalignment between its true and stated culture.
The Benefits of a Clear, Positive Company Culture
If there’s any doubt in your mind that creating a positive culture in your company is worth your while, here’s a summary list of ways a deliberate and positive culture will benefit your company:
- Attract and retain top talent
- Increased employee loyalty and retention
- Decreased absence and tardiness
- Increased job satisfaction
- Strong team synergy and collaboration
- Increased work performance: higher productivity, lower error rates
- Increased and shared accountability
- Decreased costs
- Strong, caring customer service
- Strengthened employee morale
- Lower stress levels
It’s time to get intentional in creating the culture you want—a positive culture that inspires your team and causes your company to thrive.
How to Change Your Company Culture
Culture isn’t something you can change overnight—it’s a process that takes time to evolve and grow. Below are some tips to drive a culture change that sticks:
Create Your Culture Statement
Drafting your culture statement entails spelling out your:
- Beliefs or Worldview
- Values
- Your Purpose or ‘Why’
Once you finalize each piece, you’ll place it on your Single Sheet Business Plan. Note that you can change font sizes to fit the allotted space in the plan sheet.
It’s easy to get caught up in wordsmithing. Since you revisit your SSBP regularly, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to tweak your wording. For now, make your goal to get it on paper and move to the next section. The important thing is that you’re getting your goals down on a single sheet of paper that will be communicated and shared throughout your company. Your team’s work on this is less about the actual content and more about getting yourselves and your employees aligned around common goals!
Connect Culture and Accountability
Having a strong culture is important for businesses, but how does culture connect to accountability? When leaders create a culture of accountability, employees take ownership of their work and actions and consistently look for solutions to problems. To connect culture and accountability in your organization, set clear expectations for your individual teams, create performance goals, and establish an atmosphere of trust and caring that encourages constructive feedback.
Align Your Culture With Your Brand
The customer experience is often used to measure a company’s culture. To make positive culture changes, it’s essential to create a culture that resonates with your employees and customers. Your HR team and marketing department can help bridge the gap between culture and the customer experience. As part of this partnership, HR and marketing should work together to identify the core values that define your company culture. Once the values are established, the departments should communicate them to multiple stakeholder groups so everyone is on the same page. By aligning your culture with your brand, you can increase trust and loyalty for your employees and customers.
Helping You Change Your Company Culture
All too often, the reality of an organization’s culture doesn’t align with what’s publicly stated or desired. But with Inspire Results Business Coaching’s Single Sheet Business Plan (SSBP), you and your management team can align your actual culture with your desired culture—and measure the results as you go. The SSBP provides a framework to guide you and your team in making necessary adjustments to your company culture. Our plan includes sections on establishing your beliefs and worldview, defining core and aspirational values, and developing your purpose. Once you’ve established your desired culture changes, you can set goals and performance standards and track your progress. Contact us today to learn more about how our SSBP can help you change your company culture.
