Is Your Corporate Culture Having Its Intended Impact?

Cindy Gordon CA CPCCCulture SHOCK Coaching

Corporate Culture - defined

• Corporate culture refers to the underlying beliefs, values, and assumptions held by individuals within an organization, and the practices and behaviours that demonstrate and support them

• Culture reflects what the company considers important and what it considers unimportant

Development of Corporate Culture

• Conscious vs Unconscious• Conscious – specific steps are taken to define the

intended culture• It is codified and used as the foundation for the

development of business strategies• The employees can better understand what is

expected of them in relation to the company and how they can contribute to the big picture

• The public has clear information of what is expected from the company

Development of Corporate Culture

• Unconscious – the culture develops organically based on the actions, communications and personal values of the senior leader or business founder

• Inconsistencies between actions and communications in the perceptions of the employees and public can lead to a culture different than the one assumed by the leader

• Inconsistencies can lead to reduced engagement levels

What does it mean to have a strong corporate culture?

• Clear understanding of what the company’s mission, vision and values are

• Pervasive and consistent messages supporting the mission, vision and values – communications, business strategies and actions and behaviours

• Alignment of employees’ personal values with corporate values

Benefits of a strong corporate culture

• Employee engagement• Customer loyalty• Financial growth• Hiring • Trust and transparency• Other

Strong Corporate Culture – Example

• A strong corporate culture derives its power from specific practices that employees understand as symbolizing and representing the culture

• A strong corporate culture sets out an intended experience for your customer

(Southwest Airlines http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnOxvbGOTbM)

• Strong cultures have powerful effects on how a company’s people work together

Creating a Strong Corporate Culture

Become Conscious about your Culture

Take time to think about:

• Who are we / what do we stand for?

• What is our purpose?

• How do we want to behave?

• What is the objective of the company?

• What experience do we want our customers to have?

• How do we want to differentiate our self from our competition?

Codifying your Corporate Culture

Fundamental components:

• Mission

• Vision

• Values

Mission Statement

• A corporate mission statement should state the current objectives of the company – what are we currently working toward achieving?

• Mission statement should be brief, clear and succinct

• Mission statement should provide opportunities for growth

Vision Statement

• The vision statement refers to where the organization sees itself in the future

• A vision statement should provide inspiration, excitement and invoke a compelling change or impact

Corporate Values

• Corporate values define the behaviours and philosophies that guide the organization’s internal conduct as well as its relationships with outsiders

• Values must be well defined to enable employees to understand expectations

Corporate Values – Example

• Maple Leaf Foods (excerpt of values)

Do what is right - By acting with integrity, behaving responsibly, and treating people with respect

Dare to be transparent, passionate and humble - By having the self-confidence and courage to be completely candid and direct; willing to communicate openly in a trusting manner; acting with passion, conviction and personal humility, especially when delivering winning results

• (Source: www.mapleleaf.com/en/corporate/careers/our-high-performance-culture)

Other Formats

• Four Seasons Hotels and ResortsCorporate Mission

• Who We Are• What We Believe• How We Succeed• How We Behave

(www.fourseasons.com/about_us/service_culture)

Corporate Values• Building Communities• Advancing Cancer Research• Supporting Sustainability

(www.fourseasons.com/about_us/corporate_values)

Creating a Strong Corporate Culture

Create Actions and Strategies

• Bring words to life

• Connect intended culture to specific business goals and objectives

• Walk the talk

• Create the standards

• Build a powerful and consistent message to employees and the public

Communicate

• Meet with staff and explain the meaning behind the words. Have it connect to their hearts and take on a personal meaning to them

• Communicate strategies

• Use various communication mediums

• Create conversations with staff and acknowledge situations where employees demonstrate the culture

Customer Experience

• Employees have a high level of understanding of the culture to translate it into the desired customer experience

• Employees model specific practices that symbolize and represent the culture

• Customer experience will differentiate your business from the competition

Monitor and Evaluate

Informal feedback from employees and customers Questionnaires Turnover Internal communications Length of day Dress of staff Stories

“Unsaid” Rules

What are “unsaid” rules?

• Inconsistencies between the intended culture and management’s actions that create new beliefs by the staff or public

• Management’s perception vs staff / public perception

How to Get Back on Track?

• Communicate

• Change strategies

• Develop rituals

• Celebrate cultural successes

What is your corporate culture?

Corporate Culture and Financial Success

• Companies with strong corporate cultures have been found to experience 3.5 times the three-year average revenue growth as compared to the S&P TSX 60 Composite Index (56% versus 16%)

• The three year average asset growth was nearly five times as high (63% versus 13%)

Corporate Culture and Financial Success

• WestJet’s culture has helped the company have an average three-year revenue growth of 105% prior to the recession

• Employee engagement as a result of the culture has saved the company money on expenditures such as advertising, recruiting and customer reward programs

Corporate Culture and Financial Success

Manulife Financial • Three year average revenue growth of 107%• Three year average asset growth 140%

Boston Pizza• Three year average revenue growth of 69.25% in

an industry that typically sees growth in the 4% range

(Source: Waterstone Human Capital – Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures)

Corporate Culture and Future Trends

• Savvy Gen Y and Z kids

• Customers will control the business relationship

• Social networks will fuel the participatory economy

• Sustainability becomes a competitive requirement

• Work shifts from full-time to free agent employment

• Working in the cloud

“A diamond is a lump of coal that stuck with it.”

Anonymous