The Harvard Business Review said it best, “company culture is everyone’s responsibility.” It is first up to the company to develop and cultivate the vision, but the belief isn’t produced within the company until there is conviction in the vision.
Culture starts with a vision, which drives conviction, which produces belief, and guides behavior, leading to performance.
All new hires get their subjective sense of the company culture via how they translate the behavior and beliefs of the company perceived within their own unique belief system.
It is up to you, as the leader, to hire people that complement your cultural belief system.
HOW YOUR BELIEFS TRANSLATE TO CULTURE
Employees can spot company beliefs almost anywhere, including other people that work for the same company.
Different areas a company can focus to efficiently translate their belief system are:
- Employee Dress Code:
- If you want your employees to express their creativity freely, start by encouraging a creatively open dress code.
- Snack and Break Areas:
- Want to be people-oriented? Try establishing an area where employees can grab a quick snack to help them get through the day.
- Workplace Décor and Layout:
- People want to be proud of where they work, and for many, that starts with the interior design of the building itself.
- Special Events:
- Set up fun online or in-person events or weekly rituals to show appreciation for all that the employees do for the company.
Often, the company wants to get the most out of the employee with the least amount of pay, and the employee wants to get the most pay with the least amount of work. By establishing the above beliefs within the company, you also give the employees more of what they want, which makes them inclined to do the same for you.
TRANSLATING BELIEFS DURING THE HIRING PROCESS
Of course, instilling your beliefs throughout the company extends to the hiring process as well. It starts with recruitment to ensure you hire people that naturally align with your beliefs. Throughout the onboarding and training processes, these beliefs become even more instilled.
In recruiting, when you put different belief systems together, although they might work together well and be professional, you get conflict. The key is to have a good conflict resolution approach in place to improve communication and mutual understanding.
Culture isn’t a monolith. It is something that is experienced differently by individuals in a group. Therefore, you will always have some sort of conflict resolution to tend to, whether good or bad.
All the best companies are open to conflict. They are patient with problems. They allow people to challenge the current beliefs. They are inclusive not just with skin tone but different perspectives as well.
Only then will you know how someone feels and if their beliefs align with the company’s. In some circumstances, the conflict can help the culture, while others may come from a prideful or polar opposite world view of how to do business.
As a leader and role model of the intended culture, this is where you step in to decide whether or not the person is a good fit for the company.
