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According to a popular legend, when JFK toured NASA in the Sixties, he asked a janitor what his role at NASA was, to which the man replied, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”
More than just a buzzword, corporate culture is the fuel that turns vision into reality. As so artfully demonstrated by that NASA janitor, strong culture infuses a company from top to bottom and brings meaning to the mundane. Culture trumps strategy, planning and smart investments. Without it, businesses often have a hollow workplace environment, spotty retention and lackluster buy-in. From my perspective, a company without culture is disconnected from its purpose and is more likely to fail.
While all of that may sound dramatic, I’ve seen firsthand as the chief franchise officer of Unity Rd. how company culture is crucial to a successful business. More than ever, in light of the seismic changes driven by the pandemic, ever-evolving technology and the shift to work-from-home, culture is the glue that enables businesses to thrive.
People, especially younger generations, are looking to balance purpose and excitement with paying bills and professional growth. When done right, culture can offer all of that rolled into one. At its best, culture is how leadership listens and responds to their employees, how they engage with them and how they support their needs and plans.
Here are three solid ways to measure if your company’s corporate culture is hitting the mark:
1. Does your team believe in your mission?
Culture is often oversimplified as the ubiquitous “drinks after work.” In reality, the kind of corporate culture that drives an organization forward has to go way beyond a good social scene that starts with what motivates someone to get up and go to work each day. When it’s just to collect a paycheck — as many have experienced — it can quickly get stale. Strong corporate culture should be infused with a purpose that propels you on.
Culture should flow from your company’s purpose. But more than just an ethos, you should routinely examine how you live that as an organization. Within your organization, ask yourself if everyone is spending their time and energy in a way that aligns with the company’s purpose and values. Create a community-driven team environment whose activities together revolve around more than just decompressing after work. Put stock in how your company operates.
In short, culture is how a company lives the purpose of the business. It’s more than lofty corporate ideals — culture requires walking the walk. Everything we do should be fueled by culture.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
2. Are people encouraged to be creative and make mistakes?
Healthy corporate culture creates an atmosphere that encourages creativity, mistakes and taking risks. A team that feels safe enough to make mistakes thinks bigger and contributes more fearlessly. Conversely, shark-tank environments rarely promote healthy collaboration, loyalty or bold visions.
When leaders encourage open dialogue, team members across the board are more likely to buy in because there’s a shared sense of purpose. Furthermore, the higher up the corporate ladder you get, the easier it is to become removed from your business’s ground truth. That’s why the best ideas often come from those on the front lines as they bring fresh oxygen with their insights, optics and understanding.
Celebrate a culture of transparency by being open to comments, ideas and criticisms, even if they contradict traditional thinking or methods. An open, collaborative environment creates the kind of healthy, balanced culture that companies need to stay agile, potent and resilient.
3. Can your people grow with you?
For many in the Boomer generation, work was a long slog. People clocked in daily at jobs they barely tolerated in exchange for stability and a pension after 30 years at the company. But there’s been a clear shift in that mentality as there is a massive imperative for work to be meaningful and personally fulfilling.
Smart leaders who see the value proposition in strong company culture will ask themselves what they offer their staff, both personally and professionally.
Your team is the lifeblood of your business. You should put extraordinary time and energy into recruitment to hire the right people. Once someone has onboarded, ask yourself: “What are we doing to make them better team members, make them better people and make the workplace environment better?” But this has to be more than just a thought exercise.
For instance, the first question I ask in an interview is, “What do you want to be doing in three years?” If I don’t know that on a personal and professional level, I’m of limited use. Besides running a franchise, my job is to help people be the best versions of themselves and achieve their goals. And if I’m not doing that, I’m not doing my job.
Leadership can no longer think that employees don’t have a life outside of work — it’s quite the opposite. A strong company culture offers that balanced blend between work life, personal life and overall goals. It allows you to see the whole person and help them advance in the direction they want to go. People are an organization’s greatest asset and it’s essential to commit time and energy to spur them forward. Maybe that’s investing in continuing education, weekly one-on-ones, happy hours, coffees, breakfasts, emails, texting and checking in.
Good corporate culture is about giving your team something to believe and invest in and investing in them in return. Our work lives are representations of who we are and what we believe in — who wouldn’t want to go all-in on that?
