{"id":3701,"date":"2016-01-06T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T17:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.wpengine.com\/?p=3701"},"modified":"2023-05-12T11:43:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T18:43:12","slug":"when-is-it-time-to-define-your-company-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/when-is-it-time-to-define-your-company-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"When is it Time to Define Your Company Culture?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe\u2019re too small, we don\u2019t need to worry about company culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy team is just a tiny part of the big picture. We don\u2019t have our own culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you ever said or had thoughts like this\u00a0in response to one of the many articles<\/a>\u00a0on defining culture and values within an organisation?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that culture is one of the\u00a0most important aspects of any business, especially when it comes to people. People\u00a0are attracted to, formed by, repelled by or lifted up by\u00a0the culture they are\u00a0immersed in.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0culture you create<\/a> for your company will dictate the amount\u00a0of money it makes, the type of people you hire and the things it accomplishes.<\/p>\n

Does culture really need to be documented?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is a question many people\u00a0ask, especially if your team is just starting out or is part of a larger group. Do\u00a0the \u2018values\u2019 of a group of people really need to be written down when the\u00a0company, or the team, is tiny? Doesn\u2019t everyone \u2018just know\u2019 how it all works?<\/p>\n

Many people assume that culture is something that is nurtured from the\u00a0shadows and allowed to spring up at will. Because it seems to form naturally,\u00a0the belief is that the way people behave towards each other or feel about an\u00a0organisation cannot be controlled.<\/p>\n

It may even seem weird to attempt to\u00a0document a culture, as if to formalize something that is really just \u2018the way we do\u00a0things around here\u2019 – particularly with smaller groups of people.<\/p>\n

Nothing could be further from the truth.<\/p>\n

Whether you like it or not, your company has a culture. Culture takes place\u00a0wherever more than one person is gathered. As the business grows, the culture is set by the way the entire group does things rather than the way an individual does\u00a0things.<\/p>\n

Establish your company culture early<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The simplest answer to the question of when you should begin to document your\u00a0company culture is \u2026 right now<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Wherever you are at on the company growth spectrum, establishing the\u00a0company culture that you want is vital to the continued growth of your\u00a0business. While it is never too late to attempt to change a company culture,\u00a0bringing culture change to a large organisation takes an incredible amount of\u00a0time.<\/p>\n

Consider the difference in time and effort between turning a tiny boat and\u00a0swinging a huge cruise ship around. One takes a simple movement of a hand while\u00a0the other takes a coordinated effort of multiple machines and people to accomplish.<\/p>\n

Setting your company culture early is easier than waiting and\u00a0needing to change it later when your group is larger.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t define your company culture, it will define you<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Culture is like a garden. If you let it go, individual flowers and weeds that you\u00a0never expected to be there will sprout and grow, some taking root and becoming\u00a0difficult to remove.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t take proactive efforts to define your culture,\u00a0you will find that it will begin to form by itself. Once enough people operate in\u00a0a particular way, the culture may even begin to change how you behave towards your employees (or even your clients), how you feel about future plans, how you\u00a0assess situations and make decisions.<\/p>\n

It is vital that you take proactive measures\u00a0to define your culture as soon as possible in order to cement the way you want\u00a0things done within your team or business.<\/p>\n

Every team member should define the culture in exactly the same way<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you asked your employees to define \u2018the way we do things around here\u2019 what\u00a0would they say?<\/p>\n

I encourage you to try it. Ask them what makes working in\u00a0your business different to working in another organisation? What kind of characteristics\u00a0are you all looking for in new people who join your team? What stuff do you do\u00a0really well as a team? What stuff do you need to improve on as a team?<\/p>\n

Their\u00a0answers to these questions will highlight some of the defining characteristics of\u00a0the culture of your business.<\/p>\n

Now a question for you. How many of their answers were the same? Do you\u00a0have a well-tended garden, with clear boundaries and solid differentiations\u00a0between behaviours or are there a few weeds sticking up here and there? If you\u00a0received different answers, it\u2019s definitely time to begin defining your culture.<\/p>\n

How to document your company culture<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The simplest way to begin documenting your culture is to set up a shared\u00a0document entitled \u2018The Way We Do Things Around Here<\/em>\u2019. The document is designed\u00a0to be living, that is, constantly edited by multiple people. It should include subtitle headings such as, \u2018customer interactions\u2019, \u2018when someone is sick\u2019, \u2018time in the\u00a0office\u2019, \u2018if I don\u2019t like something\u2019, \u2018work vs play\u2019, \u2018what people we want to hire\u00a0look like\u2019, etc.<\/p>\n

These sub headings will prompt thinking in the right direction for\u00a0your employees and will encourage the entire team to contribute.\u00a0Team members are able to articulate how they might prefer to do things individually, but then the team as a whole has to agree on how it will get done.<\/p>\n

There are many ways to more officially document a culture. Vision, mission,\u00a0goals and values are one way.\u00a0It can also be communicated and documented without words.<\/p>\n

For example an office d\u00e9cor\u00a0speaks volumes about its culture. Where a boss sits and with whom. Benefits and\u00a0perks provided to employees. Who is hired and who is not<\/a>. Social gatherings\u00a0and outside of work appointments. How people are rewarded and corrected etc.<\/p>\n

Once you have documented your culture, you must ensure that all these other\u00a0communication methods are in line with what the words say. In such a way,\u00a0your organisation\u2019s culture<\/a> will grow into strong and healthy interactions.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your company culture can, and will, dictate the amount of money your business makes, the type of people you hire and ultimately the success you achieve as organisation. But does culture really need to be documented? It’s a question many people ask, especially in the early days of building a business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,15],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhen is it Time to Define Your Company Culture?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your company culture can, and will, dictate the amount of money your business makes, the type of people you hire and the success you achieve as organisation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/when-is-it-time-to-define-your-company-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When is it Time to Define Your Company Culture?\" \/>\n<meta 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