Assessing Your Company Culture
Why should you as a business owner take time to establish your company culture? Because it can save you money! Now that I have your attention, how does having a good company culture save money? I will mention just a few benefits you will experience when you deliberately establish your company’s culture. You are setting defined expectations for your employees while they are at work, your company can experience improved customer service, lower employee turnover, improvements in efficiency, improved communications between management and employees, and a reduction in waste and loss prevention issues. Establishing a positive and productive company culture can be a competitive advantage the market can’t easily duplicate. Review the following questions and be honest with yourself when answering them. Now ask these questions of your employees and compare your answers to theirs. If you don’t like what you hear, give us a call we can help.
Do you have a Vision Statement? +
Answer the Who, What, Where, When, Why, questions about your business using keywords or short phrases creating a picture of your business for your employees and customers.
Do you have a Mission Statement? +
Describe your company’s mission using keywords listing your company name, what your business will become, how you will get there, and why you are in business. Now combine these keywords into a statement no longer than two concise sentences. Without an established company mission statement your employees will be operating by their own personal mission statements, which may not be in line with what your company ideology. Remember, your employees are representing you to your customers, give them a mission statement to guide their behavior.
What type of culture do you feel your company has? Why? +
The culture begins with the business owner(s). Be honest and describe your business culture today and whether you are satisfied with your present culture or do you want to change the culture. Things that make up your company’s culture are, communication styles, management styles, ethical decision making, collaborative decision making, etc. Your company culture will permeate outside the four walls of your company and become public knowledge, working for or against the good of the company.
Do you have short-term and long-term goals in writing? +
Short-term goals are one to three years and long-term are over three years away. They state What, Who, and When. What is the goal, Who is accountable for that goal, and When must the goal be completed? These goals must be in writing and the accountable people must know and have the tools to complete the goals. The owner(s) must hold these people accountable, including themselves. We will assist with holding the owner(s) accountable.
Do you know your employee turnover rate? +
One symptom of a poor culture is employee turnover. The best employees will leave because they can, often leaving a less experienced and less motivated workforce. Your employee turnover rate can be calculated by dividing the number of employees who left your company within the last twelve months by the current number of employees on your payroll.
Who handles customer complaints? How are they rectified? +
The owner or another person with the authority to handle the customer’s issues must own the customer complaints. This empowerment to solve the problem at the onset is important to your company’s reputation in the market place. That reputation will affect the culture within your four walls. If you have a poor reputation within the marketplace, the best of the best candidates will not apply at your company because they will not be associated with a less than stellar company. This will leave your company with a second string workforce and your competition with an All-Pro starting line up.
Who defines quality? How is it measured and controlled? +
You as the owner of your company must define what quality will be in your organization. There is a cost to quality, a price for non-conformance and a price for conformance. The cost of non-conformance has been known to be as high as 20% of operating costs in manufacturing and 35% in service companies. The cost for conformance is usually 3 to 4 percent of total revenues in a well run company. It is profitable to establish a culture of quality by defining quality, measuring compliance, and controlling outcomes within your company.
Do you have any loss prevention issue? How would you know? +
Imagine 10% of people will never steal, 10% of people steal for a living and the remaining 80% will steal when two conditions exist. These conditions are, justifying stealing in their own minds and if the opportunity presents itself. As an owner you must not be naive and you can not be cynical, you must be realistic regarding internal and external theft by protecting your company’s assets and establishing a culture that does not tolerate theft.
Do you have company meetings? How do you communicate to employees? +
The lessons from company meetings can be re-enforced days and weeks after the meeting through one-on-one talks and group meetings conducted throughout your company. They are a learning experience for your employees. They contribute to solidarity within your organization and give you the opportunity to celebrate the small victories and boost employee moral. A simple monthly newsletter can help your employees feel connected to you and your organization. A bulletin board can help communicate customer satisfaction, quality benchmarks, exceeded sales goals, and other important information you choose to include. All these things will be molding your company’s culture and improve your employee and customer retention.
