If you’re like many leaders, you’ve likely heard about the importance of culture-building. However, you may not be convinced it really matters as many people say it does. Well, you’d be sadly mistaken! In many ways, company culture has the power to either drive a business forward or backward.
In a recent episode of The JourneyUP podcast, we chatted with Kelly Robinson CEO of RedDotMedia, and co-founder of the social media platform, Content App. Kelly is also the former CEO of Broadbean Technology, giving him a wealth of leadership knowledge and experience. Because of his vast success in leading now two companies, it’s fair to say Kelly knows that a company culture can create or crush opportunities.
As a CEO, Kelly is a champion for the vision of this company’s culture and takes responsibility for making sure culture aligns with the mission of the organization. The good news is that any leader can adopt these skills, as long as they’re willing to put in the time and effort it takes. According to Kelly, here are some of the main steps any leader can take to create a robust culture:
Develop a clear vision – and incorporate it.
In most cases, your employees are working at your company for more hours a day than they’re at home with their families. Creating an environment that allows them to grow professionally, thrive in their jobs and have fun is sometimes a difficult balance to strike. You can start creating your company’s vision by identifying your core values – what you stand for, how you aim to treat your people and what strive to deliver. From there, you can implement internal initiatives that reflect upon your vision. For example, can you encourage collaboration through monthly team building events? Could you offer a mentorship program that helps your employees advance in their roles and reach new professional milestones? Considering ways in which you can connect the “employee experience” with your company’s mission will be the building blocks of your company’s culture.
Hire with culture in mind.
Too often culture-building is treated as a separate entity from the hiring and recruitment process. This mindset can be detrimental to your culture, as your people inherently make up your workplace environment. Hiring high quality employees is integral to building a team that’s committed to carrying out your mission. Throughout the hiring process, evaluating candidates for their character, work ethic and attitude is just as important as their skills, technical expertise and credentials. By going beyond the basics and delving into what candidates have to offer will help you hire people from the start who are aligned with your cultural values.
Continue investing in your people.
In addition to hiring the right people, it’s paramount that you invest in their success. After all, your people are a direct reflection on your company and investing in their professional development will result in further growth of your business. This involves giving your employees (both new and experienced) the training and tools to grow in their jobs, take on new initiatives and serve as mentors to others in their departments. What most leaders forget is that training doesn’t start and stop with an initial onboarding process. Implementing a long-term, sustainable training and development program is the first step to continually investing in your people and helping them reach their maximum potential. By helping your employees become better versions of themselves, you’re putting them on the path to make greater and more meaningful contributions to your organization.
If your culture is stagnant, your business opportunities will suffer in the long run, resulting in poor hiring outcomes and retention, unproductivity, and worst of all, a negatively impacted bottom line. Taking action before it’s too late is critical for the success of your organization – and your people!
Does your culture need improvement?
Start with finding the right talent! Get in touch with our team and let us grow your workforce.
-Courtney Harchak
About TrackerRMS
TrackerRMS is a leading ATS system designed for the SMB Staffing company. Our industry-leading candidate management will help you recruit faster and more efficiently. With over 20 years of experience, our recruitment software is built with you, the staffing professional in mind.