By Doug Winnie
Culture Shock can be described as the disorientation a person may feel when surrounded by an unfamiliar way of life. Traveling abroad is a classic example – different language, food, housing, and people. In business, the differences in corporate culture are equally vast. Knowing there are cultural differences is one thing; being comfortable with them is another.
What if you were tasked to create a corporate culture? What if this culture is immensely valuable in your growing, profitable company? What if creating a great culture was the single most important thing to do in your company – more important than marketing or sales or the business operation itself?
You’ve probably experienced the culture of Southwest Airlines. What comes to mind when you think of their culture? Probably fun is at the top of your list. Fun, then maybe safety or teamwork would be next. How can fun be a company value? Consider their real business. Southwest is in the business of people and it is very likely you are too! So, if people are your product and people like to have fun, then it makes sense to have fun as a significant company culture.
Corporate culture describes and governs the ways a company’s owners and employees think, feel, and act. With a great culture at your company, you will experience several very powerful and financially significant benefits.
Who you hire and how you hire. So, your company needs more staff. You can do traditional methods – place ads in newspapers and on job boards – costing money and time. You can also recruit through your own staff. Your employees are experts on your company’s products and culture. Give them the job description and let them find the perfect match.
What is better, having a happy, committed, productive employee recommending your next great employee or getting someone off the street you know nothing about? One financial benefit to a great culture is hiring great people. You will save thousands of dollars by having your team recruiting new staff.
Financial benefit of a great culture is that of sales. People buy from you when they like you and trust you. Buying is not just the transaction of cash for products or services. People invest in relationships.
When people trust and like who they work with, does productivity improve? Why do companies invest in team training? Because there is a financial benefit in doing so. People who like and trust each other can generate loads more work. Your great company culture will increase productivity and thus cost you less on your payroll.
Make More Money with great corporate culture. Look at Zappos, an online shoe company which has a phenomenal company culture, one that is well documented. Zappos grew from a tiny company with $1,000 in monthly sales to one that now has over a billion dollars in annual sales – in only 10 years.
Components for Great Culture – Vision, Mission, and Values
Vision: A vision is the “where we are going” statement. It is the “why we do this” concept which is well known to everyone on the team. At ActionCOACH, the vision is “World abundance through business re-education”. A great vision statement will engage and inspire your team. When you have an engaged and inspired team, your team will commit to reaching your vision.
Mission Statement: The roadmap to your vision. Some mission statements are short and less than a page, while others can be binders and binders of documentation. A mission statement tells who we are as an organization, what we do, who we do it for, and what makes us different from our competition.
Who We Are: The mission statement would start with something like, “We are a diverse group of professionally educated engineers committed to…” That would say the team is diverse in their makeup and are educated engineers. If you were growing a pizzeria you wouldn’t quite have that as the beginning of your mission statement. It might begin, “Our team is energetic and excited…”
What We Do: “We are in the business to help companies stay legal in their employment activities…” What we do” clearly describes what your product or service does.
Who We Do It For: “We help small to mid-size IT companies solve their training challenges….” starts to define the target. Who is the best customer for your company? Are they small or large, are they local or global, are they best if they have a PHD, or is education irrelevant?
What Makes Us Different: Are you the same as every one of your competitors? Your points of difference can be one-of-a-kind, best in class, great value, remarkable customer service, unique solution, or so many others. This is a great opportunity to brainstorm your company’s unique attributes.
By defining all four of these areas, who you are, who you help, what you do, and what makes you unique, you have given your team the roadmap to follow.
A company culture is both financially rewarding and really adds clarity to the purpose and methods, the people and values allowing everyone in the business to be more engaged, instructed, and more productive.
For more information on growing a business more efficiently in less time, contact ActionCOACH Doug Winnie at 713-936-3814, via email dougwinnie@actioncoach.com , or at the central-Houston office at 5373 W. Alabama, Suite 430, Houston, Texas, 77056.
