Episode 101. 4 Company Culture Missteps to Avoid Like the Plague
Staff Researcher: Evelyn Gilliard
Have you read “3 Surprising Ways Intentionally Curating Your Company Culture Benefits Your Business” yet? It’s a great way to ease into this conversation. You can check it out here.
Company culture can make or break your company. It sets the tone for how your team relates to one another, how conflict is managed, and even how they speak about your company when you’re not in the room. But to the dismay of business owners everywhere… cultivating company culture is not a check-the-box activity.
While it does require intention and a commitment to ongoing work, newer companies have one notable advantage when it comes to culture. As a modern business owner, you essentially have direct control of the overall experience in your company. Plus, culture change is much quicker in smaller companies! Think about it: curating culture for a company of 10 is much simpler than doing so for a company with thousands of employees.
So let’s start your culture journey out right… by avoiding these commonly made mistakes:
1. RELYING ON ONE GESTURE TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
What is “Employee Engagement”?
“The term employee engagement relates to the level of an employee's commitment and connection to an organization. Employee engagement has emerged as a critical driver of business success in today's competitive marketplace. High levels of engagement promote retention of talent, foster customer loyalty and improve organizational performance and stakeholder value.” 1
Far too many business owners think that a single grand gesture will lead to engaged employees. That’s just not true! Just like culture work in general is a journey… so is employee engagement.
What would that look like in your personal life? Imagine your partner plans a fantastic date. The venue, the ambiance, the flowers… it’s all there. You have a great time. Imagine they relied on this ONE date to keep you happy for years. Would that fly with you?! I think not.
Maintaining a happy and healthy relationship requires continuous effort, whether personally or professionally. You are never done with employee engagement for as long as you are in business. It does not matter if you just had an event, offered a new perk, or recognized a team member to increase employee engagement two months ago (sorry, not sorry!). Keep an eye out for future opportunities to keep your team engaged.
2. USING GENERIC ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES THAT ARE A CULTURAL MISMATCH.
Generic engagement activities do not consider your team’s preferences or the uniqueness of the individuals. Blanket activities to try and engage all of the team members at once can be hit or miss (think karaoke night).
Wait! But I thought that team building activities helped culture? Even the generic ones! Well, they definitely can. The key is knowing your team well and knowing individual preferences before planning activities.
3. USING INCENTIVES AND REWARDS TOO MUCH!
We all love a nice bonus, but did you know that using incentives and rewards too much can be a double-edged sword? It can be great for the short term but has adverse long-term effects. When companies use them haphazardly, it can create unrealistic expectations, leading to entitlement and reducing intrinsic motivation.2 This is the exact opposite of what we want.
We fairly compensate those who meet the basic criteria of their job.
We reward those who exceed expectations and work with excellence.
At this point in our lives, I'm sure we have all heard of the term “participation trophies.” While that’s a complex conversation, there’s truth to the concept that rewarding participation (rather than simply recognizing it) can create unrealistic expectations around performance. We can’t blame team members for lackluster performance if we hand them a first-place trophy (or a hefty bonus) for every little thing.
4. OFFERING PERKS WITHOUT FIXING CORE ISSUES.
As the boss, you can offer wonderful perks such as lax dress codes or flexible time-off policies to entice top talent and increase employee engagement. But if you do nothing to fix the core issues at hand in your company, then do not expect team members to stay long in your company regardless of the perks you offer. Take a peek at the tech industry, who offers amazing perks, but experiences a lot of turnover because of burn-out.
For example, maybe your team is not engaged because Manager A cannot engage with your team as they are standoffish or even mistreat them. You, as the CEO, need to focus less on your team as a whole and more on “Leading Your Leaders” by offering additional support or coaching to Manager A. Once Manager A is healthily interacting with your team, they show up to work more engaged and happier. As the adage goes, “people leave managers, not jobs.”
As you begin to curate your company culture intentionally, remember: this is a journey! Take things one day at a time, and you’ll start to see the fruits of your labor… especially if you manage to avoid the four company culture missteps above!
Do you need a strategic partner to help you navigate culture work in your online business? Click here to learn how we can support you today!
