What's in your culture...

I talk a lot to my clients about corporate culture – while it’s often difficult to describe, the benefits of a strong culture can easily be seen. Like greater alignment with the company’s mission, vision, and values; high employee motivation and loyalty; increased team cohesiveness; consistency across the organization of employees’ behaviors and attitudes; and high employee and customer satisfaction. Sometimes the culture is reflective of an entrepreneurial owner whose ideas and style influence the organization; other times it’s the result of a focused approach to employee recruitment, training, communication, and recognition. The first is almost like a culture based on the cult of a charismatic owner – Walt Disney, Sam Walton, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk come to mind. The second is the result of a result-focused strategy – GE, IBM, and United Technologies worked hard to instill ideas, values, and beliefs in their companies in the 60s and 70s and became models for others. Today, the strongest brands – Apple, Amazon, Google, Berkshire Hathaway, and Tesla (among others) command the loyalty of employees and customers (not to mention shareholders). What it boils down to is that employee satisfaction drives customer satisfaction which drives profitability. Bottom line: treat your employees right and they’ll do the same with your customers. Take a hard look at your goals and your company’s culture today.

 

Sam Walton (1918 – 1992): American businessman and entrepreneur best known for founding Walmart and Sam's Club