Culture is not a buzzword. It is the foundation for a successful and scalable business.
As Forbes puts it, “It’s the secret sauce of your organisation—one that goes far beyond holiday parties, or casual Fridays. Company culture represents the living, breathing persona of your company, capturing the norms, values and behaviours that define the very character of your business.”
Read on to discover practical tips and expert advice on defining and harnessing your culture to deliver on your strategy and drive your business forward.
You’ve had the idea, developed the product, secured the investment, and before you know it, a team of two has become a team of 20.
With the demands of scaling a business, it’s easy to let culture (an intentionally grown one anyway) take a backseat.
But your culture sets you apart. It’s the bedrock of your business, it shapes the behaviour, decisions, and performance of your entire team. So, whether you’re just starting out, or you’re scaling up, prioritising how you can intentionally craft your culture is key.
Culture explained
We’ve all been there, getting dizzy as we keep rolling our eyes at the delighted faces who quip about free beer, yoga mats, and nap pods when they hear we run a start-up.
But just because the stereotype of a start-up culture is, well, stupid, it doesn’t mean culture itself is.
Of course, your culture is more than the perks you offer. It’s the values, actions and behaviours that shape your organisation every single day.
Whether it’s how people work together, make decisions, recognise success, contribute towards your goals, or feel when logging-on or coming in the morning – it touches every corner of your business.
And it’s not just a fuzzy feeling that people get, or a smile on a face (though that’s always good too!); it’s your customer relations, your innovation, and, ultimately, your profitability.
Why your company culture is important
From their interview to their last day, and every day in between; your culture informs what it is to work for your company. And with companies that lead in employee experience having higher profits than their competitors, it goes hand in hand with your success as a business.
It’s also not just employees and potential hires that pay attention to your culture – investors are increasingly making decisions based on the values driving a business, and how it is reflected in the culture.
So, developing a strong (and crucially, open and transparent) culture is crucial. Whether you’re looking to instil innovation, flexibility, passion, or more – your values and ways of working need to truly reflect day-to-day life at your company. We call this a positive culture.
A positive culture:
Helps attract the best talent for your business
Be it your employer branding, the use of employee testimonials or something else, having a first-class culture can help you stand out as an attractive employer and hire the right people that your business needs to thrive.
Improves employee retention
Employees who feel a sense of belonging and purpose are less likely to look for pastures new, and with the cost of replacing an employee reaching up to 250% their annual salary, it’s something you want to nail down.
Boosts productivity
When employees feel motivated and supported by the culture they work in, they show up. This means more passion, more productivity, and more pride in their work, leading to success across the whole team.
Fosters resilience and innovation
An open and transparent culture means better decision making across the entire business. If people feel like they can share what they think, you’ll be better equipped to innovate or navigate any challenges your business may face.
Builds your brand
A company known for its positive culture not only attracts top talent – it catches the eyes of customers and investors, helping to strengthen the overall operation and future success of the company.
Benefits the bottom line
Companies with engaged teams are 21% more profitable. This comes as a positive culture drives employee engagement, loyalty, and passion, leading to improved customer satisfaction, and overall business success.
6 key steps for defining your culture
It takes time to build a scalable culture that grows with intention in your business. And it takes work. At Foundation Partners, we have a team of People + Culture experts who can help you shape, define, embed, and enhance your culture.
We believe the best way for you to pinpoint your culture is:
1. Embedding a super-effective leadership team
Management sets the tone for an organisation. So, it's crucial to work with your leadership team to get their buy-in for the culture you’re looking to create. If you’re scaling, be mindful of how potential new leaders will embody the values you want to see in your business.
With 50% of new leadership team members leaving a company within 18 months because ‘they’re not quite right’, being able to define it — and recruit and develop against it — is critical.
2. Articulating your mission, setting your goals
With measurable targets, you can empower your growing team to make informed decisions and work collectively towards these objectives.
Share this with employees and new hires through a short mission statement, proudly displayed around the office, on internal comms, and regularly referenced during company meetings.
Your company goals should be directly linked to your mission so that each person understands how it is that they contribute to the success of the mission. And that feels really good!
3. Defining your core values and behaviours
Take the time to identify what truly defines your company, your values, and the way you work. You can call them ‘operating principles’ or ‘the way we work’, if you like. But defining the core behaviours that people are measured against, will live by day to day, and that will make your business a success is really important.
Remember, what your values mean will be different to other businesses.
Consider your targets, mission, desired behaviours, and the customer experience you aim to deliver. Authenticity is critical, so you should look to involve your team members in the process — what do they think your culture is, and what do they think it should be? That said, if you’re the founder or a leader, you should absolutely make sure that it is how you live and work too. Role modelling is key!
You can also seek guidance from expert leadership coaches like Foundation, who can help you define what makes you, you.
4. Cascading comms that excite
Communicating your mission and values should be exciting, motivational, and a cause for celebration.
From company-wide emails and meetings to impactful posters and videos, explore a range of channels to engage employees at all levels. Share examples and stories that showcase the achievements of your values in action, fostering a shared understanding and a sense of pride in your culture.
And call these wins out — regularly! Encourage people to shout out and recognise successes because of ‘how’ people have achieved what they’ve achieved, not just ‘what’ they have achieved.
5. Embed throughout the whole people-experience
From recruitment and onboarding to progression and promotions, your culture should permeate every part of the employee experience. This includes your HR/People processes, their day-to-day role, their relationship with their manager, and even how you thank and celebrate people who leave the business.
And we all know about ‘brilliant jerks’. Are they helping or hindering your culture and the performance of the team around them? Exiting people for their unacceptable behaviour is important too!
6. Constantly re-evaluate
You should be open to adapting and evolving your culture as your business grows. Why? Well, the kind of behaviours you need, the way you make decisions, and the way that you work will be different when you are starting up, to when you are scaling up and so on. What high performance looks like will be different. So, your culture needs to change too.
Aligning your culture with your goals and strategy
A strong culture will support the delivery of your overall business strategy. Culture is a tool to help you mitigate your challenges and to achieve your goals
It helps you identify any gaps in your operation, such as policies, required training, or the tools you use, as well as driving commitment and understanding from your team on what’s expected of them.
To cement this connection throughout the company, consistently link discussions of your strategic objectives with your core values. By anchoring your goals to your values in communications throughout the organisation, you can reinforce the alignment between culture and strategy.
For example:
- “We will increase the Lifetime Value of our enterprise clients by X%” - Goal
- By GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND and providing weekly updates, bespoke reports, and tailored advice - Value
This approach ensures that every aspect of your culture is aligned with and contributes to the achievement of your goals.
Top tips for embedding a first-class culture
Embedding your values and shaping a culture is more than just sending a single email, announcing a new perk, or popping a poster on the wall.
How to inject a positive culture into your company:
Focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the start
As a Founder, you need to avoid the temptation of adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to your culture. Key here is ‘adding’ to your culture, not limiting people to ‘fit’. (Hint: To do that you need to have defined your culture.)
You may have a great team, but focusing solely on them can unintentionally sideline diversity and make things stale.
A more diverse team is proven to be more innovative, profitable, and attractive to investors. So, prioritise a culture where all employees feel valued, respected, and empowered, regardless of their background. Remember that cultural fit is about behaviours, attitudes, and values. It’s nothing to do with age, race, gender, or education.
As your team grows, it's essential to invest in an equitable hiring process. Consider anonymising applications, providing training to address unconscious biases, and targeting untapped talent pools to diversify your team.
💡 Unsure where to start? At Foundation, we specialise in defining People practices that put Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the heart of your organisation.
Be authentic
Avoid creating values for the sake of it, or because you’ve seen them shared online by successful companies. Your team will smell BS a mile off, so your values need to be authentic, true to their experience, and, where possible, unique to your company. Plus, make sure they’re role modelled daily!
Embrace employee feedback
Create an environment where your team feels free to speak. Use surveys or individual meetings to canvass their opinions on your culture and how you can improve it, and then – where possible – act on it.
Celebrate successes
Recognise and reward the people and teams who live and breathe your company values. This reinforces the importance of your culture and motivates others to take your values into their work. Consider specific rewards related to each value or dedicated monthly meetings to showcase the fantastic work that’s being done.
Track the results
For the best long-term impact, set KPIs to gauge the success of your culture, and how it's aligned with your goals. This can take the form of NPS surveys to both clients and employees, staff retention / churn rate, or whatever fits your objectives. Or any other metric that you feel your culture will impact.
Final thoughts
A healthy, positive culture isn't a ‘nice to have’ – it’s fundamental to how your business achieves its goals and objectives. From defining core values to integrating them into every aspect of your People Experience, cultivating a positive culture is key to driving your business forward, maximising profits, and appealing to investors the world over.
Navigating the next phase of your business journey? At Foundation Partners, we can be your compass.
Get in touch to find out how we can help.