One of the best and at the same time most challenging questions people regularly ask me is: how do you build a (good) company culture?
My answer usually goes something like this.
Start bottom-up.
Ensure that every employee feels heard and appreciated. This way, you create a better job match one by one. The sum of all these job matches ultimately helps determine your company culture. Conversely, trying to “impose” a culture top-down typically doesn’t work. I was recently reinforced in this belief by an item from Gary Vaynerchuck. He said; the number one way to build a company culture is one by one. Find out what drives each individual employee and what gives them a sense of security.
Align mission & vision.
When the values that are important for the company to pursue are never explicitly expressed, effecting a cultural ‘shift’ is difficult.
Failure is allowed.
Allowing your employees to make mistakes, in fact, even encouraging them, emotionally creates a psychologically safer place. This makes it easier to get everyone on the same page and establish a culture that is supported.
Celebrate wins.
Obvious, yet it’s often forgotten. This doesn’t necessarily require exuberant initiatives. A small token or compliment can go a long way.
In the coming days, I will explain in more detail the individual pillars of company culture.
What (high-level) initiatives do you see that are building blocks for setting up a good company culture?