How To Improve Your Corporate Culture And Boost Your Bottomline
By admin
The power of culture in business finds expression in the saying that culture eats strategy for lunch. Translation: In a clash between culture and strategy, culture always wins!
Corporate culture is the shared set of values, beliefs, assumptions and behaviours that characterise a business. It is the unwritten code of conduct that guides how employees interact with each other, with customers and with the outside world.
Often referred to as the “personality” of the business, corporate culture is the “unwritten rules” that govern how people interact with each other and with the business.
A strong and positive corporate culture can be a powerful force for good within a business, and provide energy for employees’ work. A weak or negative corporate culture can have the opposite effect, leading to disengagement, apathy and poor results.
Business performance is the measure of how well a business is achieving its goals. It can be measured in a variety of ways, such as financial performance, customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and market share.
The connection between corporate culture and business performance is strong and well-documented. Studies have shown that businesses with strong, positive corporate cultures tend to outperform those with weak or negative corporate cultures.
Businesses with strong cultures are more likely to have higher employee engagement, higher customer satisfaction and higher profits. A positive corporate culture almost always leads to increased employee engagement and productivity, which, in turn, leads to improved customer satisfaction, increased sales and profitability.
How To Identify Connection Between Corporate Culture & Business Performance
Here are a few pointers:
1. Setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPIs are measurable values that can be used to track progress towards goals. By tracking KPIs over time, Small Business Owners can see how changes in corporate culture are impacting business performance. A Small Business Owner must identify the KPIs that are relevant to the goals of the business.
Some examples are Productivity, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Turnover and P A Small Business Owner tracking these KPIs will see how they are trending. If there are positive correlations between positive cultural attributes and positive performance indicators, these will suggest that the culture is having a direct impact on the business.
2. Conducting Surveys And Interviews
A Small Business Owner must periodically gather feedback from employees on their perceptions of the culture of the business. Employees should be asked how they feel about the values, beliefs and behaviours of the business. They must also be asked how they feel the culture of the business is impacting their work. This feedback can be used to identify areas where the culture is having a positive or negative impact on employee engagement, motivation and performance.
3. Observing Employee Behaviour
A Small Business Owner must continually look for patterns in employee behaviour. Are employees taking on extra tasks without being asked? Are they going above and beyond to meet customer needs? Or are they collaborating effectively with their colleagues?
Read More: How To Unlock Small Business Growth Through Innovation
Behaviours in these situations will indicate the corporate culture of the business, which will lead to possible negative or positive business outcomes.
4. Interviewing Customers
Customers can provide valuable insights into how the corporate culture is impacting their experience with the business. For example, if customers are consistently praising employees for their helpfulness and professionalism, this is a good indication that the corporate culture is having a positive impact on customer satisfaction.
5. Comparing The Business With Its Competitors
A Small Business Owner must gather intelligence and data on the corporate cultures of other businesses in doing so, the Small Business Owner will be looking for the absence or presence of correlations between cultural attributes and business performance among the players in the industry.
6. Seeking Expert Advice
If the owners and/or managers of the business are struggling to identify the connection between the corporate culture and the performance of the business, it may be time to seek the advice of a human resources consultant or similar specialists in organisational behaviour. These professionals can help to assess the culture of the business and identify ways to improve it for better results.
How Small Business Owners Can Build Corporate Culture
A piece of detailed advice on how a Small Business Owner can build the corporate culture of the business towards improving its performance would include the following:
1. Value Statement
A clear and concise statement of the values of the business must be communicated to all employees and should be used to guide decision-making.
2. Culture Audit
A culture audit is a comprehensive assessment of the culture of the business. This can be done by a third-party consultant or by the business itself. The audit will identify the core values, beliefs and behaviours of the business. It will also assess how these cultural attributes are impacting employee engagement, morale and productivity.
3. Alignment Of Culture With Business Goals
Armed with a good understanding of the culture of the business, the Small Business Owner can align it with the goals of the business. For example, if the business goal is to increase customer satisfaction, the Small Business owner can identify and deploy the cultural attributes that are most likely to contribute to this goal. Such attributes might include things like customer focus, teamwork and communication.
4. Leadership By Example
The owners and managers of the business must lead as role models for the desired culture. Leaders should embody the values of the business in their behaviour.
5. Buy-In Of Employees
There should be opportunities for employees to participate in shaping the culture of the business. This could involve soliciting feedback on initiatives or creating employee-led cultural committees.
6. Recognitions And Awards
Employees who exemplify the cherished values of the business must be regularly recognised and rewarded accordingly. This could be in the form of public praise, bonuses or other forms of appreciation.
7. Tracking Of Results
The measurement of the impact of corporate culture on business performance could involve tracking employee engagement, customer satisfaction or similar metrics. If there are changes in the culture of the business, it is important to track their impact on business performance. This will help the Small Business Owner to determine if the changes are having the desired effect. For example, if there is a new training programme that is designed to improve employee communication, the business can track customer satisfaction scores to see if there is an improvement or otherwise.
By creating a positive and productive business culture, Small Business Owners can gain a better understanding of the connection between their culture and performance. This will enable the Small Business owner to increase employee engagement, improve customer satisfaction and boost profitability.
Need help to accelerate your small business growth? Contact Mr Ted Iwere today!!!
Get more from The Business Builders!
Read back issues of our blog.
Buy The Small Business Handbook.
Enrol for The Business Accelerator Programme.
Download our FREE eBook on How To Find The Money to Start, Grow and Scale your Business.
Watch SME TV, our YouTube Channel.
Sponsor The Business Builders Newsletter.
Please follow and like us:
