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Some businesses make the mistake of letting company culture fall by the wayside in favor of focusing on business strategy when they go through periods of rapid growth. But scaling company culture is critical for long-term business success – if culture starts to crumble, you risk losing your best employees or hiring employees who aren’t truly passionate about your overall mission.
Below, we’ve pulled together several tips to ensure your company culture scales as you grow.
Live and Breathe Your Core Values
Defining core values should be one of the first steps to kicking off a new business – and these core values should continue to serve as a foundation for your culture as you grow. Some businesses simply post core values on the wall or in the employee handbook but don’t actually live by them. This can be a fatal mistake, and you should instead make core values a part of everyday life at your business.
At Hireology, core values are called out in each weekly all-company huddle and employees receive shout outs for living up to core values. Each year at the annual offsite, a handful of employees are given awards for embodying each core value throughout the year. Taking a similar approach can ensure each employee at your business embraces your core value to guide behavior and decision making on a day-to-day basis. This will lead to employees being more passionate about helping your business best serve its customers and reach overall goals.
Hire the Right People
Culture should be a major consideration in building the team at any business. During the interview process, make sure to ask questions that gauge whether or not prospective employees would exemplify your core values and fit in with your culture. For example, two core values at Hireology are “pathological optimism” and “eager to improve.” To determine whether or not candidates might be a core value and culture fit, one could ask a question along the lines of, “Describe a challenge you faced in a previous job. How did you overcome it?”
In addition to intentionally asking questions that measure potential culture fit, it’s critical not to rush a hire, or hire based on skill alone. A candidate with a great resume and all the skills listed in your job description might look like the perfect fit on paper, only for you to find out later that he or she has a bad attitude or isn’t a team player. Even if you have an immediate opening you need to fill, try avoid hiring based on a candidate’s resume or initial interview. Just one employee who doesn’t fit with your core values can start to throw your company culture off track, which can result in decreased engagement and productivity from your other employees.
Measure the Success of Your Culture
At any given business, the leadership team might think company culture is right on track – but the only way to truly understand if your company culture is working is to ask employees directly. Consider sending out an annual employee satisfaction survey, asking employees about what’s working and what’s not with your company culture. Take constructive feedback to heart and use this information to mold future business initiatives and projects. This is especially important as your company grows, so you can avoid losing your company culture along the way.
Scaling and adhering to your company culture no matter your business growth will lead to increased employee engagement and productivity, improved customer service and satisfaction, and, as a result, profitability at your business. For more information on embracing culture to build your best team, read our Recruitment Marketing Playbook.
