Strong culture…
The way we do things around here… is the best definition of a culture. The sum of values, habits and rituals coming together to form a way of being together.
Why is a strong culture so important?
There is a direct correlation between performance, retention and recruitment. John Kotter and John Heskett collated statistics to prove the strength of culture.
- Revenue is 4 x faster
- Job creation 7 x higher
- Profit performance 750% higher
The culture needs to be able to move, when there are changes to leadership, or mergers and acquisitions and there could even be sudden growth. Any changes can lead to an old management structure creating sub cultures, which can be very unhealthy for the overall culture.
Sticking with your culture and values takes guts and it is about everyone have a conviction of a core ideology.
The story that makes this seem so simplistic is the Olympic rowing 8 who simply coined the phrase and ideology “Will it make the boat go faster”. All behaviours were accountable to that one sentence.
Sustaining the culture
Commit to regularly communicating at team meetings and having visuals around the office that support the core ideology. Ensure that you hire to fit your culture, within the recruitment and selection include questions that explain how things get done around here. Promote your culture by rewarding members who support it, this will embed the habits and rituals you want to see.
Cultural fit will make life easier.
Please do get in touch for a workshop on “Understanding culture” – bev@nuggetsoflearnign.co.uk
