The culture you are waiting for is waiting for you

You have a goal and you might even have a plan in place but one thing is holding you back: you.

Your results show that you are clearly focused on building the right kind of culture. You know the downstream effects, and you know that top prospects are looking for it. In many ways, you are ahead of the curve. But when was the last time you felt excited about a hire? Have you lost any key employees in the last year? Do you think your team is engaged in the mission of your business? There are steps you can take today that will bolster your culture, attract difference-making talent, and bring the kind of energy to your office that retains top employees.

Corporate culture is not a static concept—a good culture varies given the region and the industry. What works for company X might not work for company Y. And what has worked in the past may have served as a bandaid for something that required surgery. There are, however, certain truths that transcend and are found in every great business.

Here are some of the concepts you will need to embrace and enact in order to reach your goal of a culture that catalyzes your organization:

  • Corporate culture includes values and attitudes, shared goals, and approaches to all aspects of a company both internally and in what it projects to the world. It is essential to a business’s success or failure.
  • A positive culture is intentional. It doesn’t happen by accident.
  • Employees consistently rank diversity and inclusion and shared values with a company over salary in importance.
  • A mission statement is a snapshot in time of a company’s purpose and meaning.
  • A vision statement is a forward-looking plan for where the company wants to be now—and in the future.
  • Changing culture takes time and often involves making significant personnel changes along with other adjustments.
  • Management must lead by example.
  • Ethics and integrity are essential to a company’s success.
  • Bad apples in a company who are allowed to remain unchecked tend to poison a corporate culture.
  • Corporate culture varies by industry and country/location and that’s okay.

Odds are that you already knew or felt these concepts to be true. If that is the case, then you can only look to yourself for not living in the culture you want. If that is the case, you understand that you can no longer put off the hard work and tough conversations keeping you from your goal. Today is the day to create the business you, your team, and your clients deserve.

To learn about the culture-building and new recruitment strategies that John W. Mitchell uses to create thriving company cultures, take a look inside his book, Fire Your Hiring Habits!: Building an Environment that Attracts Top Talent in Today’s Workforce.

Invite John to come speak with your company or leadership team to gain more specific information on how your company can continue to offer the best environment for its most valuable asset—its people. Reach out today!

To stay up to date on the latest thoughts surrounding what it takes to build and sustain healthy and inclusive company cultures, get connected with John on Twitter, and LinkedIn!