Why Now's the Time to Define Your Company Culture

There are true “family businesses” and then there are business where everyone feels like they're part of a family, and you probably could give me examples of both. You may even have personally experienced businesses like these.

Although no business organization is without its challenges, a family-owned business has at least one built-in advantage: the family “culture.” The ethics and attitudes fostered in the home environment will be naturally replicated in the work environment. And if those ethics and attitudes are positive, they will be greatly beneficial for the family business.

Whenever a positive culture dominates an organization, it becomes a kind of DNA that silently and invisibly guides the actions of the organization. Organizations like these take far less “steering” than other organizations where little or no culture has been clearly established.

Make Managing Easier

A positive company culture greatly lightens the burden for management. Fewer workplace rules need to be written and, more importantly, enforced. Fewer questions need to be answered. Employees are more free to productively work unsupervised. When there is no dominant, positive culture, managers and supervisors can devolve into “enforcers” rather than enablers, who empower employees to grow into their “best selves” in the workplace and in their professional careers.

I started this post by pointing out the natural advantage family-based businesses have in creating this kind of culture. However, other businesses–and the number of nonfamily businesses is far greater–need to be proactive and take measured steps to create the kind of culture required to be successful. If done right, these organizations can create a culture where virtually everyone feels like they are family.

The problem is that founders today generally fall into two general categories: marketing wizards and technology/product geniuses. You don't often see HR professionals founding companies. In fact, bringing on an HR expert is something most founders only deal with when they begin to suffer significant growing pains. And by then, it can be too late in the game!

The numbers bear this out. According to a Bain & Company survey that surveyed companies in Europe, Asia, and North America, only 10 percent of all companies are successful at building a high-performance culture.

First Steps

But where does a busy startup begin the process? You have to lay the foundation first by creating a vision statement and an inventory of core values. These documents define where you want to go and the ecosystem in which growth will be nurtured. They shouldn't be documents with 100 bullet points, but documents with a handful of important, overarching concepts that will stick with future employees.

As important as it is to define your vision and values, you also need to communicate them to the world. You might think that you only need to inform your employees, but making them available to the public can be hugely beneficial. We know that today's job market is extremely competitive, and allowing others to review your vision statement and core values can greatly increase your company's ability to recruit the talent you need for growth.

LeoVegas Mobile Gaming Group, a European company known for its popular casino games, has used this strategy to grow to a company with more than 250 employees and to launch a successful IPO this year. On its website, LeoVegas states its vision and offers PDFs of its core values and code of conduct.

It's important to remember, however, that these documents need to provide a real picture of what's important to your business; they can't just be corporate fluff. For example, LeoVegas' core value document states, “We are a growing company with extraordinary people. We have an entrepreneurial culture at our core that is not distracted by internal positions or processes.”

This statement would raise a red flag to anyone who is only comfortable in a more traditionally structured, hierarchical work environment, but also be extremely attractive to professionals who want to rise through the ranks quickly and be sure that their ideas get a fair hearing, even when they are the “new kids on the block.”

Communication Is Primary

How you craft these statements is also important. Sometimes incorporating stories that relate how the business was founded can be useful as long as you're certain that they make the points you're trying to communicate. The stories of a company's founding can be extremely powerful and give insights into the company culture in ways that itemized lists can't achieve.

But no matter what format you select to capture your core values and vision statement, don't wait too long. Pull these documents together and make them public when your business is just a handful of dedicated team members. Your thoughts will be clearest at this stage of your development and you will be setting the stage for the growth of a positive company culture.

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