The December Fellows Blog series is on employment and management issues
Developing a Positive Corporate Culture
Andrew Jackson | December 7, 2020
In the first of his Fellows Blog series on employment and management issues, BravoTECH President and Co-Founder Andrew C. Jackson offers his views on developing a positive corporate culture.
It is fitting to start my article series with topic of culture, because it is, in my opinion, the foundation on which long-term success in business is built. Some may think culture is something that should be left to the human resources department while they focus on driving revenue, but I disagree. While a general cultural philosophy may be formalized and articulated by one department or another, the day-to-day maintenance of the culture is a distributed responsibility.
Corporate culture is represented in all aspects of company life – from how we answer the telephone, onboard new associates, greet visitors, treat fellow employees and interact with customers. It even plays a role in how we handle employee departures.
At any point when someone from our company touches an external person, that person gets a sense of our culture – who we are and the values we hold – and that’s why it’s so important to create a culture that consistently represents us in a positive way.
A positive culture is a natural extension of a company’s mission (who we are and what our business objective is) and its core values (how we want to reach that objective). Examples of core values include:
- Honesty/integrity
- Teamwork/humility
- Grit/persistence
- Positive attitude
- Respect for others
- Work/life harmony
- Recognizing/celebrating the success of individuals and departments
- Creating a fun workplace
At our firm, to make sure our mission, core values and corporate culture is understood and practiced by all employees, we have created info-graphics that are prominently displayed in our office and emailed to employees. We often refer to our core values and cultural objectives during employee meetings and reviews. This helps us attract and retain employees and clients that are aligned with our mission and values and help drive our success.
If you have not already done so, I would suggest creating a graphic representation of your culture and sharing it with your team. The process can help you better define your culture and in turn, help your staff align with it.
I would be interested in learning what your firm is doing to define its culture and invite your comments.
For more information on determining attributes that align Team members to culture you may enjoy Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate, The Three Essential Virtues.
The Fellows Blog is posted every Monday except holidays by the SIM DFW Chapter Fellows.