Adjusting Your Company Culture

Adjusting Your Company Culture

Once upon a time, there was an empire that made many demands upon its institution. The candidate, to be included, had insistence placed upon timeliness, thoroughness, expedience, and abject attention. It believed that for an individual so worthy to join its assembly, abiding by a precise doctrine of behavior with a host of specifically outlined rules of conduct was paramount to inclusion.  The empire governed with the adage, “The beatings won’t stop until the morale improves!”

Okay, maybe this is a bit overstated. But this short missive described the relationship between the employer (the “empire”), and the employee (the “candidate”). It was not uncommon for an employer to feel that an employee should do a good job because they, “should be happy to have a job.” And “your reward for your work is your paycheck.” Any of these phrases sound familiar? My, have things changed. Welcome to the 21^st century.

Over the course of generations, the relationship between an employer and employee have changed so significantly that the terms “Corporate Social Culture” and “Company Culture” are now part of our everyday lexicon AND an important part of our finding a new employer.

According to Indeed, a prominent search engine for employment placements, 46% of job seekers who considered a job but did not apply to it said they ultimately chose NOT to apply because they didn’t feel it would be a good culture fit. Almost half of potential employees are willing to state that how they are treated at work will make the decision to apply, or not to apply. It forces us to ask ourselves, what does a good culture look like, and more critically, how do we determine if the one you are in currently meets the standard of a good culture.

We can all attest to knowing what a bad culture looks like. Visiting a restaurant, retail store or any business where employees are obviously unhappy speaks to a poor culture. From where does this stem? Over the years, the work duties, and responsibilities for most companies, aside from automation in most cases, hasn’t really changed. However, the way employees, or “team members” as we now identify employees, HAS changed if a proper culture is to be achieved. Few people will accept being chastised by a supervisor in the presence of fellow employees or worse, in front of customers. I believe that this has become somewhat of a social norm. Taking it a step further, we must employ the Golden Rule: treating others as one wants to be treated.

Where does changing a company culture start? Having experienced a wide variety of situations where employees are unhappy, I will tell you without equivocation that changing a company culture starts at the top, the Owner, President and/or CEO. From there, all levels of the organizational structure must participate in a change -management initiative to improve two things: [1] Leadership, with a keen sense of direction for the company and all its team members. And [2] a communication network that allows the dialog to flow to all members of the team. A leader’s greatest achievement is a human and social one which stems from his understanding of his fellow workers and the relationship of their individual goals to the group goal that they must carry out. His ability to accomplish this is predicated on his ability to communicate, mostly through listening, to the individual to determine both.

It is no longer the pay status of a job alone or fear of retribution that motivates people to be at their best or do their best for the employer. Without over-simplifying, most people will accomplish more and perform better if they are happy and rewarded accordingly. It’s not hard to agree that “happy employees are productive employees”.

With the dynamic changes that have occurred in the employment landscape, more specifically in this century, people will do well at what they do if they feel appreciated for what they do and recognized for what they do.

Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” A collaborative work environment where employees input and suggestions are solicited without judgment is a workplace where employees can improve, grow, and be appreciated. After all, gaining feedback from the person charged to perform a responsibility will logically yield the most valuable feedback – in theory, they do it all day long.

It has been uncharacteristic of management in the past to seek input from their staff and in so doing make them partners in the quest. Today, it becomes essential to make a habit of that process through the vehicles of regular performance review and a more integrated People Operations initiative. To quote another Titan of business, Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin cache of businesses, “A company’s employees are its greatest asset, and your people are your product”.

People today have access to more information at their fingertips than any other time in history. Effective leadership and an organization armed with this notion can realize that their own team members are a unique and useful resource for improvement and innovation. Collaboration of management and team benefits both and effectively accomplishes the reward/recognition component of a proper company culture.

As part of the new age of employee-employer relationships have evolved, a “work-life balance” has also become part of our dialog in team member satisfaction. Seeking out the “WIIFM” (what’s in it for me) from your current staff and while adding additional staff members is a message all leadership must consider. As the only thing constant in the universe is change, we must adapt to new expectations to stay relevant and productive in business. Then again, you can always choose not to. But it will be at the peril of your business.

Steve McCrillis

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