Photo taken by Vox-Efx
The culture that exists in your company permeates everything. It’s like the air your team breathes. It’s impossible to avoid it becoming part of them; part of their results.
The question is, do you want that air to be filled with poisonous mustard gas or fresh, clean and pure oxygen? You want the good stuff, or course!
Why is it then, that so many leaders just ignore culture altogether; like an ostrich in the sand ready to be kicked in the butt? I believe the answer is simple. Many leaders tend to focus on tasks and processes because they are tangible and easier to understand.
People can be messy. They are mushy and gooey and full of crap. That doesn’t make their contributions any less important though. I’ve quoted this before, but I think it’s a valuable lesson:
“Take away my factories, and I will build a new and better factory; but take away my people, and grass will grow on the factory floor.”
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With all that being said, here are three reasons why spending intentional time & effort cultivating your corporate culture is worth every nickel:
- It affects your customer’s experience – Whether your culture is good, bad, or ugly it does affect your customer’s experience. Think about your last bad experience at a restaurant. Are you going back? Choose the good and your customers will see the difference.
- Contented employees will perform better (more efficient / more innovative) – If people are distracted, they aren’t all in. If they’re pissed off at you or their not buying into your vision, they won’t be giving it all they’ve got. They certainly won’t be creative; and who wants that?
- It directly affects the quality of talent you can hire and keep long-term – This is a no-brainer. People will look past many flaws in an organization if they feel CCE (cared about, committed to something greater, and enabled to do their best). That’s how you gain competitive advantage through your people.
The icing on the cake to all of this is: it will be a whole lot easier to lead a team of engaged, contented employees than to lead a bunch of disgruntled, frustrated, non-believers. So pull your head out of the sand or try to pull your bosses head out of the sand before it’s too late!!
Question: Would you recommend employment at your company to a friend or family member? Why?
