5 Steps for Building an Ideal Company culture (and what to watch out for!)

5 Steps for Building an Ideal
Company Culture
(And what to watch out for!)

5 Steps for Building an Ideal Company Culture
bamboohr.com Qualtrics.com
5 Steps for Building an Ideal Company
Culture (And what to watch out for!)
• Introduction
• Why culture
5 Steps:
1. Define core values
2. Listen to your employees and let them shape the rest
3. Start from the top down
4. Communicate/Be transparent
5. Embed values into development and engagement measurements
Things to Watch Out For
• Remote workers
• Toxic employees
Conclusion/Thanks

Meet our Presenters
Ivan Hurtt
Strategic HR Evangelist
Benjamin Granger, Ph.D.
Principal Consultant, Org Behavior

What is Culture?
Employees’ shared assumptions and
norms about the organization as well as
the tangible aspects of the work
environment that influence and reflect
these beliefs.
• Company leadership (top-down)
• Core values of the organization
• Vision & strategy of the organization
Ideal culture driven by:
• Can vary across business units,
departments & locations
• Can be incompatible (even contradictory)
with the ideal culture
Actual culture(s)

Why does Culture Matter?
2. Companies that proactively manage
culture demonstrate revenue growth
over a 10-year period that is, on
average, 516% higher than those
who do not.
3. For example, organizations that
actively manage their cultures
typically have 30% higher levels of
innovation and 40% higher levels of
retention
1. Nearly 9 out of 10 executives
surveyed cited culture as
important yet only 12% of
companies believe they
understand their culture.

Building a Company
Culture

Listen to Your Employees
Employees’ shared assumptions and norms about the
organization as well as the tangible aspects of the work
environment that influence and reflect these beliefs.
• Survey the workforce or a representative
sample of the workforce
• Be prepared to look at data by business
unit, department and location
• Conduct focus groups with a range of
units / locations
Ideal culture
• How do employees describe (in their own words) the
culture of their unit and the org.
• Ask employees to rate their uAsk employees whether
they are aware of the ideal cultural values
• nits and the org on the ideal cultural values
• Ask employees to explain what can / should be done
to promote each cultural value
Survey quick tips

Listen to Your Employees

Top
Down

When Leaders are Transparent
• Problems are solved faster
• Better team dynamics
• Authentic relationships
• Team promotes Trust in Leadership
• Higher levels of performance,
recruitment and retention achieved

Understanding Actual Culture(s)
Use both quantitative and qualitative data to understand
the actual culture(s) across the organization and how they
differ from the ideal culture.
• Are employees aware of the ideal
culture?
• How do employees rate their unit on the
ideal cultural values?
• How do employees rate the organization
on the ideal cultural values?
Quantitative
• How do employees describe the culture of their unit?
• How do employees describe the culture of the
organization as a whole?
• How do these differ from the ideal culture?
• Are there different sub-cultures across the
organization and where do they exist?
• What do employees think the organization can do to
promote culture?
Qualitative / verbatims

Driving the Ideal Culture:
Manager 360s
One of the best ways to continuously measure managers
is with 360 degree feedback assessments.
• No more than 50-60 total items
• Organize behavioral items into
competencies
• Ask open-ended questions for each
competency
• Anchor all response options
360 quick tips • Frame 360s as a “development only” activity
o 3-5 subordinates, 3-5 peers, 1 Direct Manager,
3-5 internal / external customers (Optional)
• Managers should be rated on how well / often they
display each critical behavior outlined in the
leadership competency model
• Evaluators should provide actionable feedback to the
manager on ways she / he can improve
• Have managers complete a self-assessment

• The final hurdle to changing your culture
is engaging your employees to promote
the culture every day in their jobs.
• Beyond the steps already mentioned, it’s
critical to provide employees an outlet to
express their thoughts, concerns, and
suggestions.
Driving the Ideal Culture: Employees

• Regular employee engagement and / or pulse
surveys across the organization
o Have employees rate their units and the
organization as a whole on the cultural values
o Have employees provide suggestions for ways to
better promote the culture
• Share the results of every engagement or pulse
survey with the workforce
o Results email, newsletter, town hall meetings,
quarterly webinar, posters in locations with
highlights
• Hold employees accountable for taking personal
action to help drive culture
Driving the Ideal Culture: Employees

Driving the Ideal Culture:
Employees
Personal action plans may sound daunting but they can be
quick, easy, and extremely valuable.
Example Personal Action Plan
• After each work day, take 2 minutes to reflect on the following questions
o Did I do my best to find meaning in my work?
o Did I do my best to be engaged in my job?
o Did I do my best to build positive relationships with my coworkers?
o Did I do my best to build positive relationships with my customers?
• After each work week, take 5 minutes to reflect on the following
questions
o What could I have done better to find meaning in my work?
o What could I have done better to be engaged in my job?
o What could I have done better to build positive relationships with my
coworkers?
o What could I have done better to build positive relationships with
customers?
Provide employees with example action plans
that they can engage in on a regular basis
(daily, weekly)
Encourage employees to tweak these and
make them their own
Encourage employees to use technology to
support their action plan(s)

Dealing with Toxic Employees
DO
• Talk to the person to try to understand
what’s causing the behavior
• Give concrete, specific feedback and
offer the opportunity to change
DON’T
• Bring the situation up with your other team members.
Allow them to mention it first and then provide suggestions.
• Try to fire the person unless you’ve documented the
behavior, its impact, and your response.
• Get so wrapped up in handling the issue that you ignore
more important work and responsibilities.
• Look for ways to minimize interactions between the toxic
employee and the rest of your team.

Managing Remote Workers
• Make use of technology
• Use video conferencing
• More advanced planning
• Trust
• Manage by objective
• High interaction
• 360 feedback
• Not all personalities work
Manager

High Output Remote
Workers Checklist
1. Find the right fit
2. Make communication king
3. Plan your work environment
4. Figure out your energy level and
when are you most productive
5. Know what your company needs
Employee

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bamboohr.com/blog | qualtrics.com/blog
Thank you!

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