Building a Positive Culture

(Originally posted on LinkedIn)

Why is building a positive culture important?

Every business has their own culture. It can be positive, negative, motivating, depressing, etc. This all has direct impact on their ability to perform. Culture can impact whether or not a rockstar candidate chooses to join your team. Culture can impact whether or not your rockstar employee stays or goes. Culture can impact whether or not a prospective client decides to do business with you. These are just a few of the reasons that building a positive culture is so important. The ultimate question is, how do build a positive culture?

Hire Based On Your Cultural Vision

Your culture is made up of the people within it. As a leader, it is your responsibility to hire employees that reflect the culture you want at your company. More often than not, recruiters source and hire based on technical fits first. Although it is important to make sure someone aligns technically, it is even more important that they are a culture fit. Take the time required to ensure that every hire is the right fit and checks all of the boxes.

Hire Slow, Act Fast

It is a bit counter-intuitive to say hire slow, act quickly; it is also very important to think about. It only takes one person to sway the direction of your team. It important that leadership is observant of anyone that may be poisoning your culture. What does that mean exactly? Poison spreads quickly and can be devastating. Someone that does not align with your vision for the culture of your team can quickly create doubt and negativity in others. If someone like this is identified, act quickly and remove them before they can damage what you have worked so hard to build.

Reinforce Your Positive Culture

One might think that following the three steps above will ensure organic, positive culture growth. If only it were that easy. Constant reinforcement of the values, beliefs, and expectations from your team is the only way to continue building your culture in the direction you envisioned. This constant reinforcement should come from your managers and rockstar team members. This is especially true when you are not there. Ultimately, your culture is the way your team interacts when you are not there and having champions that truly align with your values and beliefs will make sure that your culture is the same whether or not you are present.