Thick N Thin – Corporate Culture

We have most likely worked at great shops and crappy places, which is usually dependent on their corporate culture. The ultimate litmus test for a firm’s culture is how your feel Sunday night. Are you looking forward to going to work or dreading it? How much time we spend at work is the reason culture is so essential. It’s the majority of our allocated awake time, and if you aren’t happy at work, then it bleeds into your family life. I have only had one job where the culture was cancerous, and, fortunately, I was too young to know any better.

We know that a happy employee is a better employee. They are more engaged, more productive, more collaborative, less likely to leave, etc. Obviously, when business is good, culture is easier to manage. People are getting paid well, and who doesn’t like to be on a winning team? But the actual test of your culture is when things go south. Are people still looking forward to coming to work on a Sunday night? I have always prided myself on fostering an excellent corporate culture and eventually realized it came down to three main ingredients:

  1. Content: I define “content” as how you are adding value to your employees’ lives. Are you making them more efficient, more productive, more engaged, more willing to go the extra mile? Perhaps, giving them the resources (and autonomy) to succeed like providing a great CRM. Maybe it is paying for their health benefits and having a top-tier provider. These are all additive instruments that make people happy and feel they are cared for. Unfortunately, it is easy to quantify expenses but challenging to measure productivity.
  2. Transparency: We all want to work in an environment that is transparent. Where it is not an “Us vs. Them” mentality, but rather operating as a large cohesive organism where everyone knows where they stand at all times. KPI’s are discussed and updated regularly. We don’t play the “gotcha game” but rather create accountability through a constant flow of communication. If you hire good people, you don’t have to tell them they screwed up (which is inevitable). They will beat themselves up more than you can. Just make sure they know where they stand at all times.
  3. Recognition: This is the easiest and most overlooked aspect. We all crave it, right? You post something on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram and constantly look to see if anyone “liked” your post. Why? Because it is a form of recognition and makes you happy that people are approving of your content. Great managers constantly recognize their employees, and the best recognition is when it occurs in front of large groups. If someone had a good sale’s day, highlight them and their success in front of the entire organization. It goes a long way.

Unfortunately, these items are not part of our DNA. Or, at least, my generation’s DNA. We tend to think individually and not collectively. We put a priority on our individual activities without realizing the implications they might have on others. When I worked for Zweig Mutual Funds, we were in net redemptions from the day I arrived until the day we got sold to Phoenix Investment Partners. You would think this backdrop would have made people miserable, but we had a distinctive culture. We were constantly laughing, having a great time, and being extremely productive. We socialized outside of work, and they treated everyone like family…to the point of inviting spouses to the Holiday Party. Honestly, I can’t think of one employee that left the firm given the problematic sales backdrop. Great memories, and it taught me the importance of culture.