Part of building a long-lasting successful business is building a culture within it. A company culture, simply put, contains the behaviours and values that are part of the social environment and employee mindset of that company. It’s the group of shared assumptions that arises in businesses through defining appropriate behaviour in specific situations. Culture can have a positive or negative impact – if a customer is treated badly and this goes unanswered, other employees may in turn treat customers badly as they believe this is acceptable. On the other hand, if superior service is rewarded, your employees will change their behaviour in kind. Your company culture will happen with or without you so you should do your best to take a leading role in defining it yourself.
Construct around Your Core Values
What are the values on which your company thrives? Is it outstanding customer service? A forward eye for innovation? A deep commitment to social issues? Whatever they are, you should build processes and set examples that reward those who show commitment to them. If you believe employees having fun work harder then create an environment that gives them the freedom to let loose once in a while.
Focus on Your People
Only hire people who can reflect you values. If you want people who can build business relationships then you should hire highly social go-getters. That said, molding and building up people who may not completely align is part of building a diverse business with strengths in many areas. Get them on board with official and unofficial engagement methods like company parties and support for their personal charitable causes. Once you have a core group who adhere deeply to your company culture they will set the precedent for anyone new and your values will propagate themselves.
Protect and Evolve
Other influences can affect culture as well so be on guard to prevent its deterioration into something negative. Management hired to pursue specific financial goals may, for example, ignore certain values in pursuit of those goals. You may deem this acceptable in the short term but it will reshape the way your employees view the workplace and how they deal with clients over time. As you grow you should also take steps to assess your culture and evolve it into something new or different depending on what your needs are.
Company culture can be a fickle thing, with as many variables as you have people, so getting it right can be tricky. Still, the end result – a company full of satisfied employees doing the work you feel is important in the way it should be done – is well worth the effort. If your company needs some extra cash to put some culture specific plans into effect, or for any other reason, Capify offers a merchant cash advance that may be just what you need. Contact us today.
Disclaimer: A merchant cash advance is the purchase of future credit card or debit card sales and is not a loan product.
