Gil Allouche, Co-Founder and CEO of Metadata.io, an autonomous demand generation platform.
Your company is growing. You're reaching revenue goals and increasing the company's market share. But how are your people behind that success? How’s the culture? You can have a fully functioning business with a poor company culture, but I've found that a company's longevity and enduring success will depend on the people.
Business success comes in many forms, but bad culture isn’t sustainable for the long haul. On paper, you may be seeing great strides now, but if you haven’t devoted time, energy and resources to your organization’s culture, the dust will settle from the high it's on, and what’s left will be the people. Burnout can take over the high producers and those who care most.
Getting your company culture on the right track is a work in progress. It takes consistent, collaborative effort from leaders and team members working toward building a culture that’s genuine, valued and meaningful.
Every organization has a culture, so making a conscious effort to design and promote it gives you an opportunity to determine what and who you want it to be — proactively. In his book What You Do Is Who You Are, esteemed investor, businessman and author Ben Horowitz defines culture as how people react when you’re not in the room — i.e. what decisions your employees would take instinctively based on what is known as your company’s values.
Do you want to influence how your team acts when you aren’t there to mandate or influence it? Then you must put your intention behind what they want that culture to be and then make it a reality so others experience it. Here are three ways to intentionally focus on what it takes to make a good organizational culture:
Get to know the real person, not the interview candidate.
So often in an interview (and even early on as a new hire), you are not really getting the real person. You’re getting the polished, interview version of someone. Making a point to invest budget dollars on in-person or off-site events, hikes, activities and dinners to get to know each other with guards down can help tremendously.
There is something about being out of the office and removed from a “formal” workplace environment that levels the playing field and gets many people to be themselves. That’s the person you want to get to know. Bonus points if you can recreate the environment in which titles and positions matter less, and anyone can shine and show their true potential. If you do get together for in-person events, make sure your employees feel comfortable, and review current local guidance and recommendations by the CDC.
Put a premium on transparency.
There can be a lot of hollow language and avoidance that comes with the territory in the corporate world, and your team can see right through it. Couldn’t you? Having the right amount of transparency and communication can breed trust. It usually starts with you, being vulnerable and authentic before all else.
Collectively share updates, discuss company matters, celebrate the wins and share the losses. Employees want to be a part of a company culture that puts a premium on visibility of the truth. Creating an environment like a monthly all-hands can boost engagement from all sides. Everything is shared, from cash balance and company plans to actually telling people the truth about their equity. Be truthful consistently.
Invest in your people.
As leaders, we ask our team to give so much to us, and in return, we can do more than just offer a salary and equity. If you want to create a loyal team, do things for them that provide no short-term gain to the company. Develop them, provide them with coaches to work on their Achilles' heels, set up an environment where they feel comfortable making decisions, taking risks and being mistaken — that would be your foundation for growth.
Do things in their best interests first. Some of the best benefits at any company are about personal growth and development. Take one-on-one time to work with employees to figure out where they want to go and what fuels this desire. Then work in tandem to create a plan to get there. In turn, they’ll feel more empowered to bring their best self to work each day knowing you have their back.
As leaders, our character affects the culture of the company, and so do the things that are done in the room when you’re not there. Build your culture proactively like you’re going to win, and it's likely that you will. What are you doing to build culture intentionally?
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