CULTURE, BRAND & GROWTH

Culture is the character and personality of your organization. It's what makes your business unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes.

Positive workplace culture attracts talent, drives engagement, impacts happiness and satisfaction, and affects performance.

Most of us let our workplace culture form naturally without defining what we want it to be, and that’s a mistake. For example:

* We create policies and workplace programs based on what other employers do versus whether they fit our work environment.

* We hire employees who don't fit.

* We tolerate management styles that threaten employee engagement and retention.

* We don't create and communicate a clear and inspiring mission, vision, and set of values.

Our work environments are lackluster.

What is the role of a LEADER ?

"When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower"

We don’t consider how our everyday actions (or inactions) as leaders are affecting the formation of our culture.

When an organization is underperforming, it’s natural for the leaders to comment, "Oh no, the problem is not me; the problem is the staff."

It's easy to replace employees or transfer individuals, hoping that the situation will improve. So, when all was said and done, new personnel were brought in, but you know what, surprise, surprise, the status quo prevailed, and the company went right back to square one. Why! The environment and practices remained the same, the core issues remain unaddressed.

My corporate experiences have seen well established organizations floundering due to leadership vacuum.

Leaders are responsible for creating an environment in which people feel they can be their best because if you change your team without addressing the issues with the work environment and you allow the status quo to run rampage over your culture, your company will always be average at best.

For these reasons, it’s important to step back, evaluate, and define your workplace culture --both what it is now and what you want it to be in the future — and how all of these factors either contribute or take away from your desired culture.

CULTURE is more than a buzzword. This intangible element may be difficult to describe, but it’s not difficult to pinpoint an organization’s culture once you’ve experienced it. There’s really no substitute for having a strong positive culture: time and again, studies have shown that when people share core values, and believe in a company’s purpose, vision, and mission, they become more engaged.

I define culture as the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an organization. And a company with a strong culture just performs better.

WHAT COMES FIRST, CULTURE OR BRAND?

When you define your company’s culture and the brand, do they have the same definition? Are you giving the same experience to your employees that you give to your customers? It’s very important to have the same culture internally as well as externally because your employees are your biggest brand ambassadors.

Remember: A company culture creates your brand identity. And this can begin from your employees itself, the stronger your culture, the stronger your brand identity. Once your employees become your brand in action, your culture quits being a mere poster on the wall — will become a real part of your brand identity.

There is no ‘right’ culture. Identify the elements that will help create your required brand identity and accordingly build your company culture aligned to business objectives.

When your company culture and your brand are integrated, you increase productivity, efficiency, quality, customer loyalty and goodwill in the industry that would turn your brand into unique entity that others would like to follow.