Company Culture: A Foundation
You Cannot Ignore
You Cannot Ignore
We begin our blog with an article about company culture — and this is no coincidence. Culture is the foundation of any organization. In the early years of my work in IT, I heard from one of the most competent managers I've had the pleasure of working with: "Culture beats strategy". And it doesn't matter how you approach this topic in your company — whether you pay attention to it or not. Culture in a company always exists. The question is only whether you manage it consciously or let it drift. And if you don't engage in forming culture, it comes with risks: it can become ineffective or, worse, it will be formed by other people in your company — and that's a serious threat to your business.
Experienced investors always pay attention to company culture before investing. And it makes sense: strong corporate culture significantly reduces risks during periods of crisis or business scaling. Strategy and goals can change depending on market conditions, but if your team has an effective cultural foundation — they quickly adapt to any changes.
Experienced investors always pay attention to company culture before investing. And it makes sense: strong corporate culture significantly reduces risks during periods of crisis or business scaling. Strategy and goals can change depending on market conditions, but if your team has an effective cultural foundation — they quickly adapt to any changes.
Creating a corporate culture in such a way that its values become an organizational reality that shapes employee behavior in accordance with their intentions — this is a complex and multi-stage process.
Let's try to describe it in the following 7 steps:
Let's try to describe it in the following 7 steps:
Let's start by identifying the values, norms, and behavior patterns that already exist in the company:
First, conduct a survey among employees. It's extremely important to ask the right questions to get a clear picture. We recommend asking employees about their personal principles and values that guide them at work, so you can link them to corporate values.
Second, observe the team:
For example, you can ask:
Where do you see a gap between declared values and actual practice?
What do you think might prevent employees from telling the truth to management?
What actions by leaders have the most impact on culture?
What management style predominates: control or trust? Why?
What qualities of leaders in our company are actually rewarded?
How often and in what way do people discuss leaving the company?
It's worth selecting questions that shouldn't be discussed with the entire team publicly, but that will affect the description of the company's values.
Every company is unique — you have your own habits, sense of humor, and ways of interacting.
First, conduct a survey among employees. It's extremely important to ask the right questions to get a clear picture. We recommend asking employees about their personal principles and values that guide them at work, so you can link them to corporate values.
Second, observe the team:
- How do managers behave? Are they ready for change?
- What traditions and management styles have developed in the team?
- What qualities are valued during hiring?
- How is feedback and communication organized?
- How are team-building events conducted?
For example, you can ask:
Where do you see a gap between declared values and actual practice?
What do you think might prevent employees from telling the truth to management?
What actions by leaders have the most impact on culture?
What management style predominates: control or trust? Why?
What qualities of leaders in our company are actually rewarded?
How often and in what way do people discuss leaving the company?
It's worth selecting questions that shouldn't be discussed with the entire team publicly, but that will affect the description of the company's values.
Every company is unique — you have your own habits, sense of humor, and ways of interacting.
When forming values, it's important to pay attention to 3 aspects:
1. Avoid abstract formulations, for example "Initiative" or "Openness" — better "We take a proactive stance" or "Honest dialogue"/"Bold conversations - strong decisions".
2. Conduct facilitation with managers and key employees.
Based on the collected data, identify key values. Use Miro board (for example, the "Culture Workshop" template).
3. Test that the values work. Any value needs to be tested before launch.
Collect "behavioral cases" and match them with stated principles.
1. Avoid abstract formulations, for example "Initiative" or "Openness" — better "We take a proactive stance" or "Honest dialogue"/"Bold conversations - strong decisions".
2. Conduct facilitation with managers and key employees.
Based on the collected data, identify key values. Use Miro board (for example, the "Culture Workshop" template).
3. Test that the values work. Any value needs to be tested before launch.
Collect "behavioral cases" and match them with stated principles.
- If the value is "Transparency in processes", how will the company behave in a crisis situation? Is it ready to share information with employees? Do employees have access to company analytics?
- If the value is "We take a proactive stance", how will they react to an employee's failed initiative? You need to make sure that your company creates conditions for initiative.
Discuss the results you received at 1:1 meetings with leaders to make sure they share the cultural vision and are ready to communicate it to their teams.
It's a good idea to send them the results before your meeting so leaders have time to familiarize themselves with them.
It's a good idea to send them the results before your meeting so leaders have time to familiarize themselves with them.
This point is well covered in the article: Internal Communication
This point is well covered in the article: Trust - as the Foundation of a Team
Culture is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process.
To maintain the relevance of Corporate Culture, you should respond to changes. This can be identified in the following ways:
To maintain the relevance of Corporate Culture, you should respond to changes. This can be identified in the following ways:
- Collect feedback through surveys at least once every 12 months. Since changes in culture most often occur within 2-3 years, you need to catch this moment.
- Adapt values to business changes. After all, business changes are the most common cause of changes in corporate culture: the introduction of KPIs led to employees taking fewer risks, testing new ideas less, and fearing mistakes.
Immersing employees in the company culture is an endless process. Its goal is to instill employee pride in the company and a sense of association with it. All these phrases: "That's us! That's about us!" indicate that you're moving in the right direction. There are countless ways you can achieve this, here are a few:
- Reward behavior that aligns with values.
- Encourage learning that aligns with company culture.
- Celebrate successes through rewards, recognition, and events.
- Leaders must personally demonstrate company values.
- Tell stories of employees who embody these principles.
- All branded merchandise and attributes serve this purpose too.
In conclusion, I want to say that company culture is not an abstract concept, but a powerful tool that influences all processes. If you don't manage it, it starts to work against you. Build your culture consciously — and your business will become more resilient to any changes.
