Cocktails with Carl
The Main Components to Building a Great Company Culture
Michael Hyatt, the successful CEO of Full Focus, a performance coaching company, describes company culture as the “unseen force that drives operating results”. I can’t think of anyone else that has defined company culture as briefly and effectively as Hyatt has. We’ll come back to that in a moment.
Early in my career as a partner in a business, I didn’t think much about company culture. It was an afterthought, something that would naturally work itself out by hiring talented people and incenting them properly. Looking back now, I see how naive I was. I can remember instances where I stood by and witnessed toxic behavior that was detrimental to the organization. We’re talking about backstabbing, gossip, internal competition, dishonesty, etc.. These bad habits were allowed to fester, permeating the company over time and becoming the normal mode by which we operated. It was ugly.
That organization became so broken culturally that I could not stand going to work anymore. Others felt the same and turnover was high. Despite some success on paper and a decent reputation with our customers, it became clear that the company would never achieve the level of success it otherwise could have with the right approach to building a great company culture. Amid stress and internal disagreement, I ended up resigning from the company, selling my ownership stake back to my business partner.
After that experience, I vowed to never neglect culture again. Its impact is too great so it is worth all the time and attention I can give it-and at June Co we focus on it quite a bit. But what are we focusing on specifically? What is/are the unseen force/s that Michael Hyatt is talking about? They are most likely different for every organization. Below are the things that we pay the most attention to when it comes to building a great company culture.
A Published Value System-You hear the term “cultural fit” used a lot when companies are hiring new people to join their team. I’ve actually substituted this term for “values alignment”. Why? Because I am looking for people that understand and agree with our published values- which don’t really ever change. On the other hand, culture is how we implement our values and that has a tendency to change more often based on factors like market forces, technological advances, etc. Our value system clearly sets the expectation for every current and potential employee in our organization and it makes building a great company culture so much easier. What are your company's values and have you written them down and shared them with your employees and job candidates?
An Articulated Vision-Admittedly, I have not always been great at sharing the vision for the company with our team. I can articulate the vision just fine when asked-but I need to do a better job of talking about it more frequently and openly. After all, talented people want to know where they are going and why they are part of the journey. If the last couple of years has taught us anything, it’s that people want a purpose at work and they want to ultimately make a difference in some way. Do your employees know your vision for the company? Do they believe in it?
Intellectual Honesty-A highly effective organization seeks the truth regardless of personal opinions and political positions. In this environment, team members are not afraid to be challenged and/or challenge others. So go ahead and ask questions, lots of them. Be curious. I once had a boss that said if everyone in a meeting agrees on something then only one of them is thinking. I think there is a lot of truth to that. Eliminate groupthink and yes people by encouraging respectful and professional dissent.
In summary, I would be amiss if I didn’t mention just how difficult it is to build a consistently great company culture. This is finicky business-especially over the last couple of years. What motivates people has changed entirely. How employees interact with employers has been turned upside down. With that in mind, I’m certain I’ll continue to make mistakes and run into periodic failures. People will leave for something else or tell me that they don’t like where we are headed, and that will hurt. However, it would be worse to give up and abandon the effort entirely. I know, I’ve been on the other side of that already. Plus, I want to continue to enjoy coming to work!
Good Luck!
Cocktail Recipe: Corona Sunrise
Summer is coming to an end but there is time to try this refreshing, creative cocktail.
1 12 oz. Corona Beer
1.5 ozs. Blanco Tequila
1.5 ozs. Orange Juice
½ oz. Grenadine
1 Lime Wedge
Open a bottle of Corona beer and drink down to the top of the label. Add in the tequila, orange juice and grenadine. Stick your thumb in the open end and turn the bottle upside down to incorporate all the ingredients. Squeeze in the lime and add it to the mouth of the bottle. Enjoy!
