Growing your company culture

« The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it's to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel that they're valued. »

Ken Robinson

Today, many companies are facing waves of resignations, and numerous sectors are struggling to recruit. Since the Covid crisis, employees have become more demanding and expect companies to be humane, flexible, and motivating. For talent, finding a company culture that fosters growth and allows them to express their potential has become a non-negotiable requirement. So how can leaders influence their company culture to strengthen the foundations of success?

Company culture is a blend of the beliefs and values that employees experience in their daily work.
It is shaped by the company’s history, ethics, social commitments, work methods, flexibility, and the importance placed on well-being and enjoyment at work. It includes team spirit, customer focus, the work environment, and even the dress code — whether it is imposed or relaxed. A strong company culture can also empower employees to prioritize more effectively. American management expert John Spence highlights culture’s contribution to success with the following formula:
(Talent + Culture + Extreme Customer Focus) × Disciplined Execution = Business Success

Among companies frequently cited for their strong cultures and employee engagement are Google, Salesforce, Oracle, and Apple — and closer to home, Pernod Ricard, L’Oréal, Cartier, Hermès, and LVMH.

You could compare a company’s culture to an iceberg: part visible, part hidden. What’s visible includes formal behaviors and routines, but underneath lie unspoken interpretations: how promotions, raises, and bonuses are handled, what senior leadership values or penalizes (e.g., inappropriate behavior, harassment, burnout), and the tone of interpersonal communication, confrontational in some organizations, kind and caring in others.

In large multinationals, two generic cultural styles can be observed:

• Monoculture with slight variations, as seen in major American franchises, where customers can expect almost identical products and service regardless of location.

• "Culture of cultures", which prioritizes adaptation to specific functions or environments.

In most cases, companies formed through mergers have had to integrate different corporate cultures by adjusting their own to avoid losing key talent and capabilities. Many have transitioned to a "culture of cultures" model by establishing a shared foundation, defining non-negotiable values such as ethics, inclusion, performance, leadership values, or meritocracy.

Changing outcomes by transforming beliefs and behaviors

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is a famous quote from legendary management consultant Peter Drucker. For him, a strong, empowering culture is the surest path to organizational success. One of the main goals of organizational development over the past 15 years has been to create flexible, innovative cultures where individuals take full ownership of results.

But to change a culture, you first have to be able to describe it. To do this, several models have been developed, such as the “8 Gods of Management” by Harrison and Handy, based on archetypal human personas represented by Olympian deities.

British academics Johnson and Scholes developed the Cultural Web, which identifies a set of interrelated elements that define a company’s culture. By analyzing each of these elements, it’s possible to assess whether your current culture supports your mission and vision, or stands in the way.

Five key steps to change and align your company culture

1. Analyze the current culture using:

• Focus groups, ideally led by an external coach, to get a clear and unbiased picture of the current state;

• Anonymous online surveys, such as those from Barrett Values Center, or tailored internal surveys;

• 360° feedback to assess leaders’ skills and/or behaviors.

2. Envision the desired culture
Based on your business goals and strategy, identify how you want your culture to function and feel.

3. Identify the gaps

• The strengths that clearly emerged from your analysis;

• What is already working well and simply needs to be encouraged and reinforced;

• The weaknesses that hinder your vision or mission, or are misaligned with your values;

• The new beliefs and behaviors you want to promote going forward.

4. Build your action plan around key questions to both strengthen and transform your culture:

• Who needs to take action – leadership commitment is essential;

• How you will track and measure progress;

• How exactly this change will contribute to strategic execution and stakeholder satisfaction;
  This plan should ideally be published and made available to all employees.

5. Measure changes over time
Make sure your new approach has been effectively implemented and is producing the desired outcomes. Set KPIs and a timeline to measure changes in beliefs and associated behaviors.

For example, a company may choose to implement affirmative action to ultimately achieve equality. How can you evaluate a woman's leadership style if all the current leaders are men? “You can’t,” said one of my clients, who decided to require a quota of women for every promotion round. Once the number of women in decision-making positions is sufficiently high, non-discrimination can become the norm.

Each company has its own culture, and for employees, understanding and aligning with that culture is increasingly important in their career choices. Company culture is therefore a critical issue for businesses in terms of both attracting and retaining talent.

And you, how aligned do you feel with your company’s culture? Does it reflect your values and career aspirations? How do you integrate the culture’s key values into your own language and contribute to its evolution?

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