When establishing your company’s mission statement, consider your ideal company culture. Employees that work at companies embodying a defined corporate culture are more satisfied. Satisfied employees advocate for your company, leading to greater productivity and more satisfied customers. Make a list of the core values you would like your company to reflect and build them into your mission statement. Cultural styles fall on a matrix of person-to-person interaction and individual response to change. Here are four examples of flexible business cultures.
Learning
Cultures built around education and creativity give employees the freedom to discuss and implement new ideas. While interacting with colleagues is an important component, employees bring their suggestions to management for consideration and implementation. Management may present a problem to a team of employees; each individual is expected to bring a solution to the table. Startup technology companies tend to incorporate a learning culture. The rapidly evolving industry requires all employees to be prepared to suggest growth opportunities.
Caring
The caring corporate culture sees every interaction with a colleague, customer or vendor as an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with that person. Employees must work together to exceed customer expectations. Management encourages collaborative relationships and provides a supportive atmosphere. Look for communal work areas with tables as opposed to desks. New vendors or customers are greeted by a team, rather than having one primary contact. Businesses that operate amusement parks thrive in this culture, as the ultimate objective is ecstatic customers.
Purposeful
Businesses with a purposeful culture seek out the best long-term solution in any interaction. These business owners believe that every interaction is an opportunity to improve the world, not just the customer. Management encourages employees to develop creative solutions to opportunities. New-employee mentorship programs are common. Business owners prioritize their commitment to improving their local community.
Enjoyment
A business that possesses the welcoming atmosphere of the corporate culture is anything but corporate. Managers typically act as a sounding board for ideas and encourage individual employees to create solutions. Look for non-traditional work techniques – walking meetings, biophilia, and air hockey tables. Business owners that have a natural passion for their product or service, rather than simply make money, build enjoyable cultures.
Developing your company’s cultural identity and building it into your company’s mission statement is the first step when developing your business. Take the next step to align your business strategy to meet the goals of your culture and success will follow.