How to diagnose your company culture
You hear everyone talking about company culture but you just can’t work out if yours is good or bad? Does this sound familiar? Culture is a hard thing to pinpoint because it’s not really tangible. The only way you can see if your employees embody your culture is by looking at the tangible manifestations which would come from the acts of your culture. You need to observe how people behave, what language they are using, how are they doing things, why are they doing things. You need to see if there are inconsistencies and whether the energy is positive or negative. Below we tell you the difference between a strong company culture and a weak culture.
How to tell if you have a strong company culture
You will see behavioural similarities from all employees across the business no matter what location you are in.
You will see a lot of positive behaviour which is repeated throughout the business. For example, employees going the extra mile to ensure your customers get what they want.
You will hear a similar tone of voice and language being used consistently throughout the business.
Everyone just ‘gets’ what they have to do and how they have to do it. There is no policy or rulebook that they constantly have to look at. They just know.
What’s important to note is that you can have a strong company culture, meaning it is prevalent throughout your entire business. But this doesn’t necessarily determine whether it’s a good or bad culture. Your culture may be to always strive for better and push through when things get tough. This is going to be a difficult culture but if it’s strongly grounded throughout your entire business and every employee works until the job is done it means you have a very strong culture.
How to tell if you have a weak company culture
Every location you go to you seem to get a different vibe, feeling and attitude. It never feels consistent.
You will see a lot of behaviour which is the opposite of what you thought your culture was. For example, you wanted a supportive culture however you see a lot of employees who can’t be bothered or don’t strive to help each other out.
You see signs of your culture in some places, but in other places it is just non-existent.
Behaviour is different in every different department that you go to. Managers all have very different attitudes towards their role and their responsibility.
Employees have to constantly look at rules or ask how things should be done, rather than simply knowing. They are not guided by an invisible force which makes them act consistently.
Managers are always asking why they did certain things or moaning about their team’s behaviour.
You get the idea. Weak company culture is not consistent at all. You can have a good culture even if it’s weak. If you see glimpses of it in various places it just means you need to strengthen your strategy, roll it out and enforce it company-wide. But on the flip side, if no one is abiding by your values and people are all working to their own set of values and beliefs then you simply have no culture at all.
Companies with a strong company culture
Elite Hotels
They own five hotels across the UK and no matter which one you go to you always get the same seamless five-star service. Staff always go above and beyond what’s expected of them. Their attitude is consistent across all locations and it’s one of ‘the customer is always right and nothing is ever too much.’ Whether you are in the bar, on the phone at reception or speaking to the concierge. All of the employee’s tone and language is always the same. This is the sign of a very strong company culture.
Lakeland
Lakeland has 68 stores in total. They are the second-best brand for customer service in the 2019Which? Survey. They were most likely to be considered helpful by customers because of their incredibly knowledgeable staff. We are sure that you will agree no matter which Lakeland store you visit you always get the same helpful service from their workforce. This is a sign that they have a very strong workforce.
If you go to their website you will see that some of their values exactly match what they have been recognised for by their customers:
Guaranteed trust – We build great relationships with our customers and each other. With everything we say and do, we earn trust. We are honest and respectful.
Extraordinary service – Our service to customers and each other, makes us different from everyone else. Extraordinary experiences are remembered and shared. We are friendly and committed.
Amazing quality – Our passion for quality ensures our products, services and ways of working are always outstanding. We are commercial and expert.
Servant leadership
Build a strong culture with the concept called ‘servant leadership’. In the book leaders eat last, Simon Sinek talks about this concept. It is based around the idea that senior management wouldn’t ask employees to do anything that they haven’t done. Jennifer Geary gives a great example in her book about leaders at Chick-Fil-A. They always seat new starters next to the CEO at company events. If they fly anywhere senior members of the team offer their business seats to junior members of the team. Leaders go to the back of the line at lunchtime and they talk to every member of staff they bump into no matter who they are.
Strategies to improve your culture
Look back at your history
Who were your founders? What did they believe in? How did they act? Is there something in the roots of your business that you can pull out and use today. If there is you can let the original principles of the company guide your behaviour today. Teach employees about the history of the company and tell them why things were done. This will give them a purpose and a reason to act in accordance.
Be strict on your senior-level colleagues
Start with your senior team. Get them to embody the culture day in, day out. In everything, they say and do. Get feedback from your staff to ensure that they are acting in accordance with your company values and beliefs. You can only master a strong culture when your senior team embody it. As a result, it will then trickle down to your staff.
Be consistent
Every single thing your company does has to act in line with your culture. Your comms, service, processes and policies all have to adhere to your culture. Even when your workforce are going to events outside of work they still need to embody your company values. Print your values at the bottom of every news post. Say them at the beginning of every meeting. Demonstrate them in everything you do. Send out weekly microlearning modules about them. Send out articles that have to be acknowledged every month about them. Do whatever it takes to get a strong culture.
If you need help transforming your culture let us help you. See our employee engagement solution here. Or if you need consulting or a tailor-made solution for your business we can help with that too.
