LESSON 4 of 6

Create a Great Culture

Want to keep talented people? Create a culture where they can build a career

Culture matters

Many employees cite "culture" as one of the most important reasons to stay with—or leave—
a company. So what is culture?
Culture is essentially a company’s “personality.” It influences how employees think, treat
each other, set goals, and view achievements. More than ever, global companies recognize
that having a distinctive and appealing culture is a significant competitive advantage.
Many factors shape culture, including:

 The atmosphere. Is it friendly? Formal? Fast-paced? Methodical?

 The ways in which people treat one another. Are they respectful? Fair? Impatient?

 The level of formality. What is the firm's attitude toward hierarchy, new ideas, the
ways meetings should run? Where do employees really converse; for example, in
formal meetings or gathered around the coffee machine?

 A company's implicit values. A company may pledge certain values publicly, but what
are the ones it lives by? Honesty? Winning the competitive war no matter what?

 The composition of an organization's or department's workforce. Is it diverse?

Homogenous?

Microculture matters more

Your firm’s overarching culture plays a powerful role in corporate identity, recruiting, and
reputation. However, when it comes to retaining individuals, it's microculture that matters
most.
Microculture is the culture that’s specific to your department or team. Most companies have
several microcultures within a larger culture. For instance, a client-relations department may
have a laid-back attitude toward office hours to compensate for hours spent wooing
accounts on nights and weekends. But the internal support team may work specific shifts
and be organized in a hierarchical manner.

Microculture drives your employee’s daily happiness (or lack thereof). Fortunately, it’s the
aspect of culture about which you, the manager, can make the most impact.
TOOL

Worksheet to Improve Your Microculture

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Step 1: Survey your microculture
Gather as much information about your team’s expectations and habits as you can. Some
things, such as dress code, are easy to see. But other aspects of culture—such as attitudes
toward change or how peers treat each other—might require investigation to discover.
To gather information:

 Observe. Watch employees' behaviors and note your impressions. It may be useful to
bring in an outside professional for additional perspective.

 Talk often and informally with employees. Ask how they would define the current
group culture. Discover what they like best and least. Solicit ideas on what their ideal
culture looks like. Encourage them to frame their answers both in overarching terms
like "fun" or "family friendly,” and in more specific terms, such as "I like to work
without getting interrupted" or "I like to have close friends at work."

 Conduct surveys. If your team is large enough, a formal survey can be useful to
collect detailed feedback and measure different aspects of your culture. Offer
anonymity to encourage greater candor.
  Learn from others. Are there any departments in your organization with excellent
retention rates? Speak to a manager there to learn about their culture. Look for
lessons you can apply to your group.

Step 2: Develop a vision for an ideal microculture *

Take what you’ve learned from surveying your current culture and decide what changes
you’d like to make to foster an ideal work culture.
To develop a vision for your culture:

 Focus on gaps. Compare your current group culture with your employees’ ideal.
Implement changes in the areas where there are the biggest discrepancies—and the
clearest agreement about what could be made better.

 Anticipate needs. People often have difficulty articulating what they need. What
kinds of requests do you get frequently and how might these be automatically
satisfied? For instance, would a flexible start time in the morning help parents who
get young children off to school?

 Be specific and practical. A vague vision is ineffective because it doesn’t tell

employees how they should act differently. For real change, your employees need to
find your vision clear and meaningful.

Step 3: Implement your ideas

When implementing culture change within your group, keep in mind:

 Match words with actions. Whatever changes you make, be sure to consistently
model the actions yourself. For instance, if your employees say that the culture
doesn’t embrace risk-taking, allocate part of your budget to support employees who
have well-researched proposals of something new they’d like to try.

 Change doesn’t happen immediately. Be consistent, communicate about culture

often, and be patient. Your people look to you as the “chief ambassador” of the
team’s culture.

 Recognize small, initial successes. For instance, if you are trying to build a more open,
collaborative culture, publicly recognize employees who team up to solve a problem.
Work/life balance

Does your culture allow your employees to balance their work responsibilities with their
personal lives? If the answer is no, you will have a difficult time retaining your best and
brightest.
In the past, work/life balance was seen as an issue for women and working families. Now,
nearly all segments of the workforce seek work/life balance—from older workers who take
care of elderly parents to younger workers who see flexibility as a fundamental workplace
right.
Your company may have a number of formal policies and benefits that support work/life
balance. These may include flexible hours, childcare benefits, or paid sick time. However,
when it comes to promoting a healthy culture, research has shown that a manager's personal
example is more influential than formal policies.
To foster a culture of work/life balance for your team: 

 Be flexible, when possible, on workday hours and location. For instance, let
employees who have doctor’s visits or other appointments work from home on those
days. Allow employees who have long commutes to shift their hours to off-peak
travel times.

 Protect personal time. Don’t schedule meetings before the start of anyone’s workday
or after it ends. Hold vacation times sacred—don’t disturb employees during vacation
or allow their peers to do so.

 Make it okay to “be offline.” Don’t answer emails at all hours of the day or night.
Make it clear that a 24/7 response is not expected—and model that behavior.