In business, we hear a lot about ‘corporate culture’. Managers and business owners are told by countless experts that ‘building a strong corporate culture’ is the most important thing they should be doing. Rarely though, do they explain how to do this.
Building a strong corporate culture for your organization starts at the top and involves every department, team and individual.
=== Defining Culture Itself
The first step is in defining what culture is to your organization. Culture is basically the attitudes and perceptions employees have of their work environment and employer – the organization and its management. Who are we and what do we stand for?
=== Successful Cultures Are Nurtured, Not Created
To build a successful corporate culture, corporate perceptions must be nurtured from the top. They cannot be forced or engineered. Every successful enterprise in history has always had a core culture that drove the company towards its goals and achievements.
Apple is known for its innovation-driven, singular vision. Google is known for its engineering focus and far out conceptualization and experimentation. Ford is known for its continual development of world-leading automotive technology and collaboration. Every organization has an underlying culture that drives it.
The trick is finding the right culture for your operation and nurturing it, while at the same time quelling incompatible ideas and cultures. All of this must be accomplished without quashing employee innovation and creativity. It’s a hard balance to reach, but if successful, the growth and success of the organization can be explosive.
If you are looking to strengthen your corporate culture, we have tools that can help. Our suite of assessment tools, poll employees on key drivers of engagement like retention rates, and loyalty. These retention and loyalty rates often coincide with retention and loyalty rate for customers, illustrating the link between successful corporate culture and success in business. For more information on tools that can help, visit https://lephairassociates.com/employee-assessments.