Why You Should Care About Business Culture When Starting Up Your Own Business
Every entrepreneur has heard about how important culture is to your company, but If you’re starting or growing a business, you have a lot on your plate every day. With everything you need to focus on, why should consciously building the culture of your business be on the top of your list?
Let me answer your question with another question. What are your priorities for your business? Are you looking to grow your revenue or profit? Are you trying to serve many people with an unserved need in your community? Do you want this business to become your full-time income to provide for you and your family? Do you want to grow to be a national or international brand?
If the answer to any of those questions is yes, can you achieve those goals on your own?
To grow a business to its full potential, at some point, you’re going to need to build your team. We build teams to achieve a vision bigger than we can achieve on our own.
So, this should be easy, right? Just go out and find a few people, and you’re on your way.
Building the right team can be difficult even under the best circumstances. It’s even more true now that we are living in the middle of “The Great Resignation.” If you’ve tried to hire anyone lately, you know how difficult it is. Even with the turbulence in the economy, the job market will be this way for the foreseeable future.
So even if you’re not looking to grow or hire right now, if you think that’s in your future, now is the time to build a company culture that will attract the best talent, before you bring them on.
To build that kind of culture, keep in mind that employees want three things from their workplace. Your ability to fulfill all three of these desires for your team is impacted by your company culture.
1. BUILDING MEANING
First, they want their work to have meaning, be heard, and be part of the decision-making process, even in small ways.
Strong strategic thinking is where we find meaning for ourselves, our business, and especially our team members. It’s also the most challenging part of running a business. Thinking strategically is not just thinking bigger about what we’re currently doing or doing more of it. Business strategy consists of our business’s goals, cultural values, and priorities. Suppose we haven’t clearly defined these aspects of our business strategy. In that case, it will be incredibly tricky for our team to understand where they fit in the big picture and find meaning in their work.
2. USING GOOD COMMUNICATION
Second, to help our employees achieve their need to be heard, we need to use good communication skills and learn how to delegate to our team. As a business owner, I’m sure you frequently feel like you never have enough time to complete everything. Since time is a finite resource, all we can do is build a team around us to get it all done and delegate it effectively to them. The challenge is that most entrepreneurs have a hard time letting go and delegating meaningful work to their team. The good news is that by delegating small amounts of responsibility, we build trust with our team, and by letting them solve those problems on their own, they feel heard and connect more strongly with their role on the team. Clear communication about what you are delegating to them is essential to making this happen. Another advantage is that you achieve more of your business goals quicker!
3. GROWING LEADERS
Developing future leaders is the third key to fostering a business culture that attracts talent. Not only does this help employees be part of the decision-making process, but it is our most important job as leaders. When we take the time to invest in people to help them grow into strong leaders, we create people who understand our intent for the business, move our goals forward and act in the best interest of the company. Additionally, strong leaders on our team will promote the company culture with new employees as they come onboard and sustain the culture you have worked so hard to build.
Whether you’re getting ready to hire someone right now or just dreaming about the day your business is that big, building a company culture that attracts and retains the talent you need is an essential job for today. Thinking about how you’ll create that culture through solid strategic thinking, clear communication, and delegation to develop future leaders will build a strong foundation for your business that will accelerate your growth in the future!
Author: Jason LeDuc
Editor: Jennifer Hart
Last Updated August 2024
About the author: Jason LeDuc is the founder of Evil Genius Leadership Consultants, corporate leadership and strategy specialist with 20-years of experience as a US Air Force officer. He empowers founders and business leaders to accelerate their vision of growth by establishing a strong leadership culture and developing a team who shares the same vision and dedication toward the company's advancement. Learn more about Jason and his work at Evilgeniusleadership.com
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