The Culture Imperative

Organizational success is highly dependent on many variables. Many tend to think of the bottom line as the primary concern when it comes to business success. While the bottom line is what will ultimately determine if you can pursue the vision everyone has for the business, it is not excessive focus on the bottom line that will lead to a healthy bottom line.

There are many factors that make up what contributes to the bottom line. Business model design, demand for services and products, sales, service, experience, people, and marketing all play a part. However, of all factors that go into growing a healthy bottom line, organizational culture is probably the one that has the greatest influence.

Culture is real and lives inside the attitudes and behaviors of the people who show up to execute on the core business purpose each day. It is the people that bring the business to life that will determine the level of success that is achieved.

Culture doesn’t happen by accident. An organization's culture is developed over time and through the daily decisions that are made by leadership. It is solidified and reinforced through the interactions that take place between everyone within the organization.

Culture Can't Be Faked

A few years ago I visited a company that had posted on its website a video that was designed to demonstrate the type of organizational culture that was present. The video showed employees at all levels shooting Nerf darts at each other and playing Frisbee on the company lawn. It implied that they had a Google like culture that was encouraging creativity and innovation through collaboration and creative thinking.

However, upon my visit I found something very different. The environment seemed cold, interactions among employees appeared to be minimal, and leadership appeared to rule with arrogance and an autocratic style. Maybe deep down they sincerely wanted to be that Google like place, but leadership just didn't know how to pull it off. Can you imagine being a candidate for a position for an organization you thought was Google-like only to accept the job and realize it was nothing close. The impact on morale and retention would be significant.

Culture is more than toys and games. It cannot be faked, and it must be real and unique to the organization.

Practice What You Preach

A strong organizational culture requires consistency between what the organization says and what the organization does. It’s about a marriage between actions and words. Any organization can post videos of a moment in time that looks fun and engaging, but it doesn't mean it’s a true depiction of reality. It’s not unlike the impression a twenty something tries to make via posts on social media of he and “his” Lamborghini, implying success through the acquisition of material items, only to find the car was rented.

Any organization can place lofty goals and make bold statements in a strategic plan or mission statement, but it does not mean they will ever become reality. When an organization's actions do not live up to their words, they are no better than the guy and the Lambo. Eventually it gets found out. As boxers and MMA fighters know all too well, if you don't do the work in the dark of the night you'll be found out under the bright lights of the ring.

Once Is Not Enough

Company picnics, holiday parties, and turkeys at Thanksgiving are fine gestures and great ways to bring employees together in a non-formal setting. However, if these are merely obligatory gestures and are not supported by similar actions all year long, then the gesture is hollow. Organizations can't treat employees one way all year long and act another way on two or three days out of the year and expect employees to believe it. If anything, these gestures build resentment and can result in low morale and expressions of disrespect toward the organization. No one likes a fake.

It's The Little Things That Matter Most

A strong organizational culture is best developed over time and through consistency between words and actions. For example, if an organization says they value the opinions of others, then make sure there are safe opportunities for opinions to be expressed and hold everyone accountable for adhering to that value. Don't let leaders cut people off when they are sharing an idea or belittle them for expressing a concern. It’s not about agreeing or implementing the suggestion as much as it is about respectfully listening and taking the idea to heart.

If you are part of an organization that values safety, then you should be experiencing very tight and rigid controls when it comes to employee safety. You may not like wearing a hard hat or safety glasses all the time, but I bet you like it much more than losing your vision. Companies that value safety do not waiver when it comes to safety. That said, they also handle safety violations with respect and professionalism. Organizations that value their people treat them like their most valuable asset. They don't deal with issues in public and they don't humiliate them. They modify behavior through positive reinforcements and corrective action that are designed to strengthen them as people and improve performance.

Look Around

If you are an organizational leader, take a moment to look around. Look at what you say you value and how your actions align. Maybe you'll start to see opportunities for improvement. If you take consistent action to align what is said with what is done people will notice and over time your culture just might become what you want. And by the way, you don't want Google's culture. You want your own. Be original and true to who you and your people are. You can't force culture and you can’t force your people into a box they don't fit in.

Randy Stepp is a Principal with Renaissance Leadership Group. RLG is a full-service business and franchise development company whose purpose is to help business owners realize their dreams of independence and freedom.

Visit Renaissance Leadership Group at www.renaissanceleadershipgroup.com to learn more