The importance of company culture

The importance of company culture has been studied and written about for years, but what exactly is 'company culture”?

One way to define company culture is 'the outcome of the collective beliefs and behaviors of the company's people”. There is a lot of data to support that performance-based cultures and more engaged workforces lead to stronger business results - and I work in a company where I have seen this to be true firsthand.

In my experience, two key things are important to making this happen: 1) defining who the company is and 2) aligning key organizational practices to the desired culture.

First off, I believe it's essential to know, at the very core of your company who you are; why you do what you do and how you do what you do. There's a lot that goes into that - missions/visions, values and expectations; however at the end of the day, it simply means that the company has to know what they stand for and then they have to make sure their people connect with it. This helps ensure that who a company says it is can be lived out by the people that represent the company every day.

Secondly, there are a couple of key organizational practices that can have a strong impact on the culture: hiring and leadership development. Hiring for ‘cultural fit' is just as important (if not more,) as hiring for ‘skill fit'. Asking the right questions and spending the time needed to assess behaviors can make a big difference in the success of the candidate excelling (or not) in the company's culture. Secondly, the 'people leaders” in a company have the responsibility to develop the very best teams. It is critical that the leaders understand the purpose and values of the business and coach their teams in accordance with those values. People leaders who are in lock step with who the company is are likely to be more successful in building teams that are in alignment with the culture.

Van Meter is a sponsor of the upcoming Workplace (R) evolution 2015 event, taking place on June 9 at the hotelVetro in Iowa City, Iowa, where company culture is at the forefront of the agenda. It is our hope that through events like this, companies in our region will learn, share and grow together. It is through the collective strength of all companies across the Creative Corridor that we can attract and retain top talent to our region and grow our local economies.

' Lura McBride is Chief Operating Officer of Van Meter, Inc. Comments: LMcBride@vanmeterinc.com