5 Essentials of Culture Building
The most important thing about us is the way we treat each other while we do the work.
Organizational culture is simply the way people consistently treat each other.
(This post is based on my conversation with Micah Solomon and his new book, “Ignore Your Customers (and They’ll Go Away).”)
5 Essentials of culture building*:
#1. Define your purpose in a sentence or two.
- Clear language.
- Short enough to be memorable.
- Long enough to be meaningful.
Mayo Clinic: “The needs of the patient come first.”
#2. Set down a short list of principles that are fundamental to your desired culture.
For example:
- We value every individual’s input and creativity.
- Service is the responsibility of everyone here.
#3. Express your cultural expectations at every possible junction, from recruitment onward.
#4. Maintain a repeating ritual for cultural reinforcement.
Use morning huddles – under 10 minutes – as culture builders.
- Focus on one principle.
- Illustrate the principle with a story.
- Discuss techniques, pitfalls, and challenges overcome.
- Led by a different team member everyday.
#5. Develop an obsession with talent management.
Solomon defines talent management as, “Recruitment, selection, and nurturing the team who will power your success.”
- Embrace trait-based hiring. Technical skills AND personal traits matter. How do prospective employees treat current employees? Ask, “Could you tell me about a time when you…?”
- Focus onboarding on PURPOSE.
- Invite input and flexibility in job design.
Solomon’s book is about customer service. I found it useful both from customer service and from a leadership point of view.
What culture building mistakes do you see in organizations?
What essentials of culture building might you add to the list?
*Find, “Five Steps Toward Creating a Customer Service Culture,” on page 17 of Solomon’s book.
Contact Micah Solomon:
Email: micah@micahsolomon.com
Read chapter 3 of, “Ignore Your Customers.” (Requires email)
Bonus material:
Building Company Culture: 7 Steps for Every Small Business (Linkedin)
Understanding and Developing Organizational Culture (SHRM)
Move in the Right Direction with a Culture Building Champion (Leadership Freak)
Thanks, Dan. This entire post really resonates with me. I am working on culture in my team and this content will be helpful.
Thanks Michael, and best wishes for success.
What culture building mistakes do you see in organizations?
A belief that if you say it, people will automatically agree with you;
A belief that if you keep saying it, people will automatically adopt it;
A belief that if you print it out, it will automatically gain meaning;
A belief that if you do the above, it will automatically generate money.
In microbiology, growing cultures is something you shouldn’t undertake unless you really know what you’re doing. I suspect the same is true in organisations. The impacts of growing the wrong (toxic/pathogenic) culture in either situation can be catastrophic.
Thanks Mitch. Brilliant! The mistake of thinking that “saying it” is all there is to leading is pervasive.
I’m with you, Mitch.
Substitute “expectation” for “belief” in your triad and you get what I call “Smiley-faced Fascism,” or what others are referring to now as “toxic positivism.” Either way, It’s cultural poison.
Just because you want something,
can make it imperative, and/or
has meaning for you
doesn’t necessarily translate to the bottom line (short-term tactics) or relate to a quantifiable ROI (long-term strategy).
I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to go up against corporate dictate (ego)
because the culture lacked (functional) integrity and would (easily and predictably) be a social/PR and financial disaster
if fully implemented/successfully branded as intended (because they are in active denial).
Sometimes you need to find a way to shame the shameless (whether it’s individual egos or a mob mentality) –
i.e. make them proactively accountable for the risks they are introducing with half-baked (unintegrated) strategic and business plans.
Excellent post Dan. To me the biggest Culture modeling mistake is leaders whose behavior does not model excellence, humility and whatever vision or mission statement is written in the wall. One addition to the list: Demonstrate respect at all times, to all stakeholders.
Thanks Daryl. Yes, great insight. You remind me of Kouzes and Posner who define the first function of leadership as “Modeling the Way.”
Good evening,
Great piece.
The truth of the matter is, without any customers a business does not survive. A leader of an organization should build a culture centered on quality customer/customer service. I believe that is possible through consistency and all members of a team being on the same page. Personally, I’ve called a company numerous times, spoke with different customer service representatives and would receive a different answer from each person I spoke with. That type of experience is frustrating because I am basing a decision on the answer that has been provided to me. At that point I am through speaking with the customer service representatives. Normally, I escalate the issue up to a supervisor, I feel like my time isn’t being valued.