Whether you already know it or not, your company has its own company culture. And you’ve helped to shape it. The question is: Are you helping to develop the right culture for your organization?Company Culture

Before we can talk about building company culture, let’s take a minute to define it. Your company’s culture is simply its own distinctive personality. It’s a way of defining a shared set of values for the members of a company. It affects everything in the business – including profits.

You might say that a company has a culture of excellence. Or a culture of innovation. Or even a culture of laziness.

You do already have a culture. It may be positive or negative, but you’ve got one. And if it’s a negative one, then you’ve also got a problem.

No matter what your current culture looks like, there’s always room for improvement.

Let’s take a look at three big things that you can do to start building the culture you desire in your organization.

1.) Define It: What values do you want to see instilled throughout your company? Poll employees, customers and vendors to determine shared values. Make sure that they align with your own and your vision for the company. Take the time to define them and write them down. They’ll be the foundation for everything that you do. When you discuss customer service, sales, leadership development, or any key initiative at your company, your values will dictate the how and why behind your implementation strategies.

2.) Communicate It: Don’t miss an opportunity to drive home the company values. Your values should support your mission and vision, and these should be intertwined with everything you do. A leader’s job is to continually cast the vision for his people; it’s what keeps everyone focused on the Big Picture. It’s easy to get buried in day-to-day operations, but vision-casting keeps everyone’s eyes on the prize. No one in the company should be unsure of the values that the company stands for.

3.) Model It: You can plaster your values on every company bulletin board and shout them from the rooftops, but if you fail to live them out and model the values you’re promoting in your own life, it’s all a wasted effort. Ensure that your entire leadership team has buy-in and is clear regarding your expectations that they fully model the company values in all of their daily interactions. A company that I used to work for would remind its people simply to Walk the Talk. Also, be sure that you’re communicating these values on the front end and hiring people who genuinely believe in them.

Newcomers will be able to sense the culture of your company almost immediately. Company culture is surprisingly tangible. Because it literally affects every part of your organization (including your profits), it’s not something to be taken lightly.

Don’t let company culture “develop itself.” Envision the culture that you want, and then define it, communicate it, and model it.

And be proud of it.

 

Photo: Yuri Arcurs, iStockPhoto.com