Five Steps To Designing A Winning Culture

Companies that intentionally “managed their cultures well” over a 10-year period consistently outperformed companies that didn’t, according to research conducted by John Kotter in Corporate Culture and Performance. Here are key comparisons:

• Revenues increased 682 percent vs. 166 percent
• Stock prices increased 901 percent vs. 74 percent
• Net income increased 756 percent vs. 1 percent
• Job growth increased 282 percent vs. 36 percent

Spend 30 minutes or less at a company and you can describe the culture. How does your culture smell? Does it smell good or does it stink? Do you have a culture by design or by default?

It may be difficult to identify your own culture because you’ve become so much a part of it. However, every organization has one and it’s vital to identify the key factors in yours and intentionally manage the culture. The rewards are just too great not to take action in this all-important arena.

So how you do go about designing a winning culture?

1. Be who you are. Winning cultures should be reflective of who the leader is and of the company’s core values. An understood mission and shared values can be liberating. On the other hand, if people have to refer to a procedures manual to make daily decisions, you’re hampering customer service and lengthening the sales cycle.
2. Training should be an integrated process. Training is an “inside job,” and shouldn’t be abdicated to an external provider. An outside firm can provide clarity of direction, help to design the training process and provide for interval course correction, but the ultimate day-to-day responsibility for training rests inside the company.
3. Recognition counts. What systems do you have in place to ensure regular, ongoing recognition? The key here is “regular and ongoing.” The systems don’t need to be heavily weighted financially. In fact, one of the most powerful tools of recognition is the age-old handwritten note.
4. Communication! Knowledgeable companies communicate and they do it in a proactive, consistent fashion. While sharing the company’s “goings-on” is important, just as important is realizing that communication is a two-way street—talking and listening.
5. Recruit and hire the best. Considerable time should be allocated and invested in the recruiting and screening process, as opposed to just trying to fill an empty seat. And when you hire the best, start them right. A proper implementation plan should be carried out so that the new hire isn’t just thrown to the wolves, or worse, ignored upon hiring.

In general, one of the CEO’s primary responsibilities is creating a work environment that is challenging, satisfying and fun. Given that, it’s fair to ask what percent of your time is being spent on proactively designing and implementing your company’s culture? All too often, leaders rush to the urgent while neglecting the important. Challenge yourself and your organization to design a winning culture.

Vistage speaker Jack Daly is owner of Professional Sales Coach, Inc., based in San Clemente, Calif.