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Defining a corporate culture

It’s Entrepreneurship Week on Bdaily. Dean Hunter, founder of Edinburgh-based HR firm, Hunter Adams, commented on how to foster a corporate culture that is suited to a particular business.

A great corporate culture doesn’t happen by chance. Despite culture being a critical component to company success, it still often fails to reach the boardroom agenda.

So what is culture?

A company can’t splash a lot of cash on a fancy new talent programme and hope to create it. It’s more than how you treat your employees.

Culture is that buzz you feel when you walk into a workplace. Staff members don’t have to take a sharp breath in just to gather up the courage to open the door. Good culture is what makes them want to work and stay there – regardless of external temptations.

When I was global HR director for oil giant PSN, HR didn’t lead the culture initiative, but we played a strategic role in equipping managers with the necessary tools to nurture and protect it. Knowing how to utilise those tools is critical to its success, because culture is like a diet. A business can spend decades perfecting and honing it, but it takes just one manager to slip into old habits for it all to come toppling down.

First things first, what are the values the company is trying to create? Can the business implement existing values or is it starting afresh? Without values there is no core or foundation to build on. Once they’re identified and introduced, accountability must follow. Values should anchor business strategy. If a company is opening a new base in an international location does the new team understand and implement the firm’s values? Does the new office have the same feel and buzz as the company’s others offices? If the answer is ‘no’ a company risks compromising its integrity. Similarly, if an employee exhibits behaviours or actions which contradict the values is action taken? It must be clear the values aren’t just words on the website, but instead a strategy in its own right which dictates how the business is run.

Once the groundwork is done, it’s time to do the heavy lifting. Take the time establish a state-of-play and gauge the existing culture. Ask the killer questions. What does the staff really think of the management and where does the company not demonstrate its core values? Companies need to have the courage to recognise their shortfalls if they ever want to rise above them.

Once the staff are engaged it’s time to keep communicating about things that matter to them. Companies need to learn how to clear the noise and identify themes which frustrate or excite employees. It’s recognising what employees want to hear and when. A company’s business plan or financials can be too far removed from an employee’s experience. Instead recognise what and when employees want to know things. For instance, are career progressions outlined and clearly communicated? Can they see and feel it? If the company is going through a major period of change job security and any shift in the team’s structure should be identified and discussed openly. Good communication is about recognising what employees want to talk about, not just talking for the sake of it.

Finally, if a company says it values its people it needs to recognise the power of the individual in terms of working hours and reward. As the economy claws back from the jaws of recession it will soon become a candidates’ market. Pay and pensions fall short of what today’s employees really want. Trusting and empowering them to work flexibly, whether it’s compressed hours, remotely, or from home, will not only give a company the competitive edge in a crowded marketplace, but will also reinforce its commitment to its workforce.

An award-winning culture doesn’t happen overnight, but once established it can help ensure the longevity and success of a company. Management must be held accountable for strengthening and sustaining it. Never underestimate what a powerful tool it can be and appreciate that even the smallest deviation risks culture being destroyed.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dean Hunter .