Fancy Offices And Free Snacks
Conversations about great company cultures are almost always accompanied by talk of nice offices with modern conveniences, bring-your-pet-to-work days, free food and more. In fact, read about the latest hot startup, and modern media (conventional or otherwise) will be abuzz with stories about the lengths these companies are going to for their employees (from no dress code to unlimited vacations to relaxation pods).
It’s not surprising then that these ideas become comingled: that amazing work culture goes hand in hand with these kinds of tangible amenities.
Of course, it is true that employees who work in great environments, who are given flexibility to manage their personal needs, who have a host of needs catered to, become happier, more positive and more willing to do what’s needed at work.
But we can’t expect that to be the glue that holds everyone together, that encourages us to give our best, to go above and beyond. For example, what happens when the going gets tough, and revenues don’t grow as expected? When the funds aren’t available to give everyone their favorite organic lunch, or take them on the fancy offsite?
What’s more, companies (most of them anyway) don’t start out flush with cash to spend on all of these different things. They’re bootstrapped and have to be thoughtful about where every dollar goes. They can’t buy a company culture (if such a thing is even possible)? But, all the same, many of them have great cultures - cultures their people give their all for, time and again.
So clearly, there has to be something more fundamental that underpins a great company culture. And to my mind, there’s probably at least five:
You need to have a clear vision and mission. These things get put down by many but the truth is you can’t build something great without knowing what you stand for. Why are we here? What are we here to do? What makes us better than the rest? What makes us great? (Hint: if you have to consistently use price to get your way, then you haven’t figured it out yet.)
You need to have a defined set of values that is clear and communicated to everyone. Not 8 or 9 or 10 values, but 3-4 simple ones. Ones that everyone knows and understands. And these values need to be demonstrated day by day, from the top down.
You need to embed lots and lots of communication. There is really no such thing as over communication. Share with your team and make sure they know what’s happening and allow them to be part of the solution.
You need to inject fun wherever you can. This doesn’t mean fancy parties or exotic offsites or expensive odds and ends in the office. It can be a simple drink with the team. A break in the day. An offsite lunch. The point is to get together, get to know each other and build relationships beyond just the work.
You need to be thankful, particularly if you’re senior leadership. This is not only said to others but it needs to be demonstrated and felt. Your team isn’t there because they have nowhere else to be. They’re there because they choose to be. Be thankful for that, for their hard work and for their contribution in getting things to where they are.
There may be more, but to me those have to be the big ticket items. Sure, many of them are soft and fuzzy and my bean counter friends seem to scratch their heads when I talk about them. But the truth is that those are the things that truly drive greatness, certainly for any material stretch of time.
