“We can’t afford culture”
The real question you should be asking yourself is “Can you afford not to influence your culture?” If you’re not making the most of your culture, you won’t see any return on it. Make it work for you and you’ll be able to measure the outcome in profit. You can start today by implementing some ‘free’ initiatives: live by your values, increase the visibility of your leadership team, communicate better to the business, recognise colleagues, celebrate successes, and include colleagues in decision-making where you can.
“Our values are on the wall”
That is not enough. Culture starts before someone joins the organisation, in the recruitment process, through hiring, onboarding, and training. It then underpins business as usual, reward and recognition and performance management. Culture cannot be turned on and off. To be extraordinary and realise the full value of your culture, you must bring your values to life and live by them every single day.
“We don’t need a culture, it’s airy-fairy”
Having a bar or table football in the office is not culture. An extraordinary culture that will drive your profitability is much deeper than that. Every business has a culture. You can’t choose to opt in or out, but you can opt to make it work for you. Extraordinary cultures start with your beliefs: Why are we here? What do we want to achieve? What do we want to be known for? These are the foundations for an extraordinary culture and, with the right strategy, people, and processes to support, you can develop a futureproof culture to sustain your success.
“Culture is the job of HR”
Culture is everyone’s job, and it starts at the top (with the leadership team). For every leader, culture-building should be a requirement. Extraordinary cultures happen when everyone believes they are responsible. The overall culture is the combination of the whole organisation’s habits, behaviours, and beliefs. To put your customers first, you must put your colleagues first. Happy colleagues’ equal happy customers, and the cycle continues.
“If we invest in our colleagues and they leave, we lose out”
As Richard Branson once said, “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to”. We like the phrase ‘scope within a structure’. Give your colleagues the scope to use their energy, ideas and passion within the structure set by the business. This means allowing colleagues to think outside the box, go above and beyond for customers, but all within a defined framework to ensure the shared goals remain. 94% of colleagues would stay in their current role longer if they felt the organisation invested in their personal development.
If you’d like guidance on developing a framework for sustainable growth with your culture at the centre, get in touch, today, with our founder, Maria Bryceland, to see how we can help.
Email: maria@mariabryceland.com