Not everyone shares the same priorities or values for their work environment.
“I really dislike the hiring managers that did not disclose the known toxicity of their hazardous workplaces to me.”
― Steven Magee
Most companys struggle to describe culture because they don’t trust their perspective. They know they have a bias, especially in great companies.
Additionally, what leaders feel the culture is may not be the same as employees.
Culture must be felt, but it’s not enough to be felt by the staff. People need to see it presented by executives as well.
If upper management and leaders throughout the organization aren’t readily available, the culture and eventually the brand will suffer.
WHAT’S THE ISSUE?
- same words can be understood differently
- position and alignment affects understanding
- Having a defined vision helps create accountability
Building a great culture requires constant nurturing. People have their needs, and the more people you have in a group, the more needs there are to be met. To successfully create an authentic workplace culture, each employee has to enjoy coming to work. They need to feel validated, engaged, challenged, supported, etc.
As a leader in the company, the gaps or miscommunications in desired company culture ultimately fall back on you. There’s no doubt the stress this causes, but it’s on you at the end of the day.
Often, candidates go through the hiring process with their own idea of what the job will be like, regardless of how detailed you describe the position and the desired workplace culture. It becomes essentially impossible to detect if the person is an authentic fit for the company based on a few mere conversations.
Maybe you’re not the one doing the hiring at all. Maybe you are an executive noticing that one of your directors continues to hire people who don’t match the company culture. These people then blame upper management or the brand entirely for their unhappiness when they probably shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
How do you come back from this? How do you navigate these pitfalls in an effective manner that continues to display company culture in action?
Fortunately, there are hacks to help anyone improve their workplace culture.
TIPS FOR CREATING AND MAINTAINING AUTHENTIC CULTURE THAT CAN BE FELT
According to Entrepreneur, Zappos asks all potential employees to complete a “cultural fit interview.” Here is where the company asks the person different questions that pertain some way to their morals and intended culture. The person’s responses give the interviewer insight into their business morals and whether or not they would enhance their company environment. This interview holds half the weight of the entire hiring process.
They also offer new employees $2,000 to quit after their first week if they aren’t sure this is the perfect job for them. This kind of incentive almost ensures they will find the right candidates to complement their (already outstanding) company culture.
Here are a few tips to help make your company’s culture not only translatable but manageable.
- Put Trust in Your Staff
- Employees who feel independent in their work will grow more, leading to company growth.
- Budget For It
- Many companies now include culture in their monthly budget because although culture isn’t about “things,” sometimes it takes money to create memories that last.
- Promotions
- Give promotions only for increased capability rather than office politics.
- Have You Tried Going Flat?
- Flat organizations have little to no levels in management. Everyone is perceived to be on the same playing field. However, this doesn’t tend to work as well for larger corporations with lots of staff members.
A company is only as unique as the workplace culture that created it. At the end of the day, no one can really tell you how to create an authentic company culture because it wouldn’t be authentic. However, these tips can definitely help guide you along the way.
The short version.
- Why is company culture so hard to describe?
- Because most companies do not trust their own perspective. Leaders know they carry bias, especially in great companies, and what leaders feel the culture is may not match what employees experience, which is why defining culture is the hard part. The same words can be understood differently, and a person's position in the organization affects how they interpret them.
- How do leaders make culture something employees can feel?
- Culture must be felt by staff and visibly presented by executives. If upper management and leaders throughout the organization are not readily available, the culture and eventually the brand will suffer. Building it requires constant nurturing: each employee needs to feel validated, engaged, challenged, and supported, and the more people in the group, the more needs there are to meet.
- How do some companies test cultural fit during hiring?
- Zappos runs a dedicated cultural fit interview that carries half the weight of the entire hiring process, probing candidates' morals and how they align with the intended culture, treating values as the first hiring filter. The company also offers new employees $2,000 to quit after their first week if they are unsure the job is right, which filters for people who genuinely want to be there.
- What practical steps help build an authentic company culture?
- Put trust in your staff, since employees who feel independent in their work grow more and drive company growth. Budget for culture, because creating lasting memories sometimes takes money. Give promotions only for increased capability rather than office politics. And consider a flatter structure, though flat organizations tend not to work as well for large companies.
