One of the most famous movie lines in history is “Build it, and they will come” from the movie, Field of Dreams. The actual line is “Build it and he will come” which refers to the character, Ray and his deceased father, an avid baseball fan. Regardless, the sentiment is that to attract what or who we want, we must first build the field they want to play on.
There are a lot of theories about why hiring is such a challenge right now, but one thing is for certain… there has never been a better time to build the field they want to play on by strengthening the culture of your business. Securing a reputation in your community as THE place to work is a valuable position in our current economy. If you are THE workplace where quality people fight to stay and new hires fight to work, you’ve done some things right and one of them will surely have been to build a fantastic, rock-solid culture.
What is culture? Here’s one definition I really like:
Work culture is a collection of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that make up the regular atmosphere in a work environment. Healthy workplace cultures align employee behaviors and company policies with the overall goals of the company, while also considering the well-being of individuals.
And here’s yet another definition: Culture is the character and personality of your organization. It’s what makes your business unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes. Positive workplace culture attracts talent, drives engagement, impacts happiness and satisfaction, and affects performance.
Pure and simple, I believe that culture is the way you and your team (or family) behave routinely in your environment and the overall feeling that those behaviors create. Feelings of trust, value, support, honesty, respect, accountability or of immaturity, fear, victimhood, blame, negativity, or every man for himself.
We currently have 5 distinct generations in the workplace, a challenge for any manager, for sure, but while they all have different needs and desires, the research also shows they have some similarities, and all of them agree on the value of a few things:
- Clarity about where we’re going and what we’re here to do
- Strong, clear lines of communication
- Appreciative, positive, and cheerful environment
- Opportunities for growth and advancement
- Clear expectations
- Mature resolution of conflict
- Shared values and a work product of which they can feel proud
These are the very things that we identify, clarify, and assist in presenting at annual Team Calibration Retreats for practices, small businesses, and even small teams within larger corporations. It’s not as hard as you might think to build a rich and powerful culture, or even repair a less than stellar one. It simply takes some attention and clarity, a platform to communicate it, and a strong commitment to fulfilling on the promise of it within your business.
Instead of worrying about how to outbid the latest signing bonus, consider putting some focused effort into upgrading your culture and building the kind of playing field that the best will want to play on.
If our team of highly qualified trainers here at LionSpeak can assist you in any way to clarify your vision, focus your efforts, outline a communication and meeting structure, and facilitate a transformative Team Calibration Retreat to kickoff your 2022… Do not hesitate to call on us! There is nothing we love better than helping teams remove their self-imposed barriers and become the practice or business they were meant to be.
“Company culture is my number one priority. It’s more important than the team, the product, the business model, or the investors. All of those things can be fixed and made better over time. But culture has to be established on Day 1 and enriched and sustained over time.”
~ Eric Yuan
