Is Your Company Toxic? (Symptoms & Treatments)

"There is a solution to every problem, but death."

The truth is there is, almost always, a remedy. Is your startup culture toxic? Is the structure a mess? Wait, how do you find out in the first place?

Well, I've taken care of half the homework for you. Here we go!

6 measurable symptoms that a company needs a better culture

Daniel (Dan) Edds, MBA , an expert in how high-impact cultures unlock sustainable competitive advantage, outlines the following:

1?? Employee turnover is average or worse when measured against industry standards.

2?? Measures of employee engagement are less than 75%.

3?? Customer retention is average or worse when measured against industry standards.

4?? C-Suite executives consistently move on. They see the organization as a stepping stone to their next job.

5?? Core values, if they exist, are seldom talked about.

6?? Employee development is limited to professional development only.

"Employee engagement? We really don't have time for that".

However, it is intriguing to observe the lack of customer retention as one of the consequences of a culture in need of improvement, which is a key factor for business survival.

Ah, the magic of prevention.

A step-by-step formula for a founder looking to improve culture

TL'won't read: It's all on you, boss.

According to Edds:

1?? As a founder, culture is a reflection of your personal values, ethics, and morals. Yes Andrés, if you want to change your company’s culture, you will first need to look in the mirror.

2?? Align the employee experience with the customer experience. Do you want your customers to feel a sense of reassurance? Your team should radiate reassurance first.

3?? Define core values by behaviors leaders will be expected to model. Your management team is not reflecting reassurance? We've got a problem, Houston.

4?? Get rid of meaningless rules. Then, select the rules that will matter in the drive to deliver maximum customer value.

5?? Incorporate measures of culture growth and formation into performance evaluations. What doesn't get measured...

Remember, the daily experience of your employees ultimately shapes the customer experience. Customers keep the business alive.

The daily experience of your employees is where culture and structure meet up.

4 not-so-obvious symptoms that a company lacks structure

1?? The team feels they need permission for everything. They are hesitant to reach out and -of course- collaboration suffers.? ( Cliff Berg , Agile Expert and Co-Founder and Manager of Agile 2 Academy).

2?? Poor cross-communication and collaboration. (Lex Sisney)

3?? Unclear roles and accountabilities. (Lex Sisney).

4?? Teams or departments that don't fully understand the needs and products of each other. (Scott Boddie)

5?? Things seem to move very slowly - outcomes are difficult to achieve.

An internal sign? Managers are mostly focused on optics instead of results (Cliff Berg).

"Grow your systems and processes, and put the right people in the right places to make sure they are working in a coordinated way, and there are no large task or communication gaps. This is one of the biggest pitfalls larger organizations recognize later down the road that they missed" Scott Boddie , Change Catalyst, Consultant, Trainer, and Workshop Creator.

A step-by-step formula for a founder looking to improve organizational structure

In startups, it is vital to understand the different stages of the business's lifecycle. When moving from the “Nail It” to the “Scale It” stage, the organization must be redesigned to reach the next level of growth. ( Lex Sisney , CEO and Coach at Organizational Physics).

Change is natural. Communication is your best ally.

1?? Think first about the culture that you want to create in the company and identify the types of leaders who can bring your vision to life. Leadership is many things - not one thing. Good leaders adapt their style to each situation all day long. (Cliff Berg).

To foster collaboration, choose Anna—a team player skilled in communication, conflict resolution, and assessing team dynamics.

For promoting intrapreneurship, Daniel is your go-to—consistently generating innovative ideas and guiding his team to execute with precision and autonomy.

Remember: leadership is multifaceted.

2?? Start with a blank canvas.?Design your structure based on key processes and functions rather than individuals, job titles, or existing norms.?Only then you can go back to the existing team and see where existing team members fit for the next stage (Lex Sisney).

3?? Don’t think of silos or domains. Instead, embrace areas of focus, accountability, and shared responsibility.?Marketing needs to be invested in the product’s success as much as engineering is and vice versa. (Cliff Berg).

"Structure needs to be fluid. It needs to evolve. Good leaders are constantly looking at the teams they have, and reforming things - not chaotically, but thoughtfully" says Cliff Berg.

What's next? IDK, it's up to you

In order to implement solutions, we must cultivate a high level of self-awareness and humility to stand in front of the mirror and say to ourselves first: "I may have fu￡$%cked this up". No biggie, I do that too.

Then, we just fix what we did wrong. Easy-peasy.

En otro orden de ideas, will generative AI save us from all the culture and structure drama once it has stolen our jobs and there are no more human-related issues to deal with?

Let's wait and see what happens in the next chapter of Black Mirror.

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You've read until the end. You rock!

I appreciate that. Gracias.

Isa :)