CEO Mike Hoffman oversees operations and aligns business functions with SBIbusiness strategy to achieve scaled growth and customer success
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As CEO, my job is to help all the people on my team realize their full potential. Everyone comes to work with different strengths and aptitudes. Given one’s natural talents, different parts of the job are easier or more difficult. My job is to help people develop the ability to win, even when the path is winding and unclear. To do this effectively, CEOs must create the right environment, which means taking on the additional role of chief culture officer.
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Promoting a nurturing culture
Since solving problems and creating alternative paths often require collaboration, much of the success depends on organizational culture. I suggest that organizational leaders communicate and their goal, vision and values monthly so that employees are reminded and encouraged to embrace them. This can help to increase employment satisfaction, generate creative energy, drive innovation and lead to better customer service. As with any good practice, achieving great company culture involves reinforcement and repetition. The following is a checklist of activities to promote and encourage a positive corporate culture:
1. Submit your company for workplace pricing.
Many professions have at least one publication that ranks the best places to work. As part of the process, the ranking company often conducts employee surveys. These survey rankings can examine things like career development, employee satisfaction, and leadership. So completing the survey is a mini pep rally.
2. Promote culture in an internal newsletter.
A company newsletter is a great tool to showcase company values and showcase employee stories about teamwork and collaboration through personal accounts and testimonials.
3. Create corporate bonds through corporate philanthropy.
Invite employees to submit meaningful community organizations or charities they would like the company to support. Caring about what matters to your people can deepen loyalty and align commitments.
4. Start with team building exercises.
For example, our organization started with a goal of “100 million steps” as part of our charitable contribution, and it has grown into an incredible exercise in teamwork that has inspired our people to support each other and exceed the expectations of their own limitations. Think about how you might implement a team building exercise with your employees.
5. Recognize and reward employees and their success stories.
Highlight people who are committed to embracing your company’s values and celebrate them publicly. My organization posts an “Unforgettable Person of the Week” on LinkedIn every week.
Hiring to maintain a collaborative culture
At the individual employee level, work on corporate culture begins with hiring. It only takes one bad hire in a critical position to create a toxic culture. As tempting as it may be to hire people with excellent resumes, it’s critical that you also prioritize hiring personality types that will thrive and grow in a collaborative culture.
I’ve found that the key to success is not in hiring people who will win at all costs, but in people who embrace teamwork to support their team and be supported. HR should also reinforce this during the onboarding process. Many companies pay lip service to culture and collaboration during the hiring process, so it’s important to reiterate to your new hires that this is a critical part of the company’s ethos, not just window dressing.
Retaining employees and preserving culture in a ‘down’ economy
In the current economic climate, business leaders are looking for ways to reduce costs. Many leaders who won’t stop cutting positions may think they can cut employee benefits to save money until the recession is over. But if you sacrifice employee experience, you can damage your culture and lose people. The bottom line is that employee experience should never be on the chopping block.
Part of being diligent about preserving your culture requires preserving your people. Retention is usually cheaper than hiring and retraining. This is especially true in a recession, when you need to focus upselling customers and strengthening those customer relationships through your existing people.
Why culture is better than strategy
When it comes to mindset, success is usually defined by an employee’s ability to find a way around a problem, whether that be a tremendous determination to do something they never thought possible or find another way to solve the problem. Think of the 5’9” point guard in the NBA. The athlete’s height limitation was an unavoidable obstacle, but the ability to overcome that limitation and make it to the NBA is inspiring. Many of us will not be able to overcome such difficult odds alone. However, I’ve found that if management takes the job of chief culture officer seriously and the entire team embraces a culture of teamwork, supporting colleagues and investing in those relationships, there’s nothing your company can’t accomplish.
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