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Jason Zickerman is the President and CEO of The Alternative Board (TAB). He is also a contributing columnist for Entrepreneur.com where he shares his unique wisdom as the leader of a worldwide organization that helps develop individual SMB owners. In his most recent article, Jason shares his personal experience in identifying and cultivating a company culture that works as well for a global organization like TAB as it does for a business just like yours.
What Is the Caliber of Your Company Culture?
By Jason Zickerman
The term company culture can sometimes feel like a lofty, modern catchphrase. But make no mistake, embracing a defined and thriving company culture is one of the essential elements of business success.
When we talk about company culture, we refer to a shared set of values, standards, behaviors and practices embraced and fostered throughout an organization. The concept of company culture really only made its way into our workplace vocabulary in the 1980s and early 1990s. A few decades later, company culture is now a red-hot topic in countless boardrooms and team meetings.
Every organization, whether by luck or design, has a company culture. The big question is whether yours is the one you want. When a workplace culture is more accidental than nurtured, organizations can lose sight of their foundational mission. Not to mention that productivity usually flounders, and the entire system often suffers from a lack of identity and shared values. This is all just a fancy way of saying that fostering a positive company culture can be tremendously impactful.
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Defining a Company Culture
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As the CEO and President of The Alternative Board, I knew our global organization had a pretty positive culture from the start. But we operate in 25 countries worldwide, so I was also acutely aware that creating and supporting a culture on such a massive scale presented its challenges. If every country possesses its own unique set of underlying values and norms, how does such a diverse system like ours foster a consistent culture based on common core values? I was stumped.
Then when I was working in the UK a few years ago, I was lucky enough to attend a keynote presentation by organizational psychologist and author Damian Hughes. Damian works with professional athletic teams and is an expert in high-performance sporting cultures. I listened as he discussed the importance of striving for a culture of commitment and devoting ourselves organizationally to high-performance standards.
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Coming up with an acronym that supports your values and company culture is one thing; living and breathing it is quite another. For our global organization and franchisees, we knew how important it was to define a culture that works as well in the U.S. as it does in India or South Africa or Austria. It also had to apply to the thousands of business owners that we support and who are scattered across the globe. The task was challenging but undeniably important.
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Blair Koch is the Owner and CEO of TAB Denver West. She is an expert on the business ownership lifecycle and hosts the Best Businesses in Denver podcast.
I believe that good leadership isn’t just about the bottom line. It’s about cultivating relationships within your ecosystem: with your team, with your customers, with your community and most importantly with yourself.
I want everyone I work with to have an exceptional, joyful, abundant life. Business owners shouldn’t have to work themselves to the bone to achieve their dreams. At the end of the day, nobody looks back on their life and says, “Gee, I wish I’d worked another hour.” I certainly won’t.
My team and I are constantly in awe of our amazing TAB Members who not only bring a tremendous amount of insight and acumen to the TAB Board table, but also have such amazing humility and a willingness to learn, grow and be better business leaders. It’s what sets them apart from so many others who are walking in their same shoes. It is what transforms them from business owners to business leaders.
The following are some business owner tips from TAB Denver West Board Members:
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Consider Third-Party Surveys
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“When succeeding another business leader, particularly a wonderful and popular one, it is important to manage any potential employee turnover. In the past, my company conducted surveys to gain insight into how employees felt we were doing. But that feedback may be limited. When I moved into the leadership role, I requested that a third-party – actually my TAB Coach and Board Facilitator – interview each employee one-on-one. The results were remarkable and we gathered a great deal of insight into what was on the team’s mind during this time of transition.”
Kristi Dunham
Peak Engineering
peakengr.com
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“I identified an amazing candidate for a yet-to-be-created position in my company. The person was excited at the prospect of working with us; the problem was, they required higher compensation than I had envisioned for the role. My TAB Board helped me realize the potential ROI in this person and so I took the leap and brought this person on board. And it worked. This hire has helped the firm financially, has reduced overall stress and has freed me as the owner to take on more strategic activities. This new employee was an investment, not an expense.”
Lisa Isom
The Minerva Group
theminervagrp.com
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Pivot from Sales to Processes
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“It is important as the leader of a business to move from being a producer to becoming a manager of your salespeople. Stop handling opportunities yourself; instead, hand new opportunities over to your team. Pivot from doing sales to creating and leading the sales process. When it is time to plan your exit strategy, this approach can add tremendously to your valuation.”
Anson Thompson
The Thompson Group
thethompsongroup.net
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The Journey of a Business Owner
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“All business owners go through similar journeys. We are employees of another firm initially, and then we take the step of starting or purchasing our own businesses. We learn to hire, manage, develop and lead our employees. Our journey is not complete until we take on the role of being a business owner working ON the business rather than IN it. This allows flexibility to participate in the business activities based on what we are passionate about, rather than being dictated by the business.”
Denise Dihle
360 Engineering
360eng.com
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Meet with Your Team
One-on-One
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“I have a very loyal team. And I know how important that connection is and always want to keep it that way, especially during and after the pandemic. So I decided to launch a company-wide program we call “Breakfast with Brooke” where I sit down with each employee on a one-on-one basis to help maintain that connection and express my appreciation for them. This meeting is separate from their more formal reviews. It has been great.”
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Keep Number of Survey Questions Low
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“When surveying customers, don’t be too excessive with the
number of questions. Refine the survey down to just a few questions that deal with
the value your customers perceive in dealing with your team, service or
product – not necessarily in the minor details. This information allows you to focus on what delivers value and embrace those compelling
differentiators. A shorter survey can also set the stage for further
discussions when appropriate.”
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Join The Alternative Board and iSpeak Co-founder Russ Peterson Jr. for an illuminating conversation about the impacts of storytelling within business.
Hear the answer to the question business leaders are asking “When would I use a story in my role?” and learn from Russ the three key story models you can apply to 3 common business challenges.
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Collaboration. It seems like such an easy concept to grasp and embrace, particularly as it pertains to the teamwork required to run and grow a successful company. But then why do so many so many business owners, leadership teams and organizations struggle to foster a culture of collaboration? Is working together in an orchestrated effort really that hard?
Well, it sure can be.
And the reasons are many. For instance, organizations with a hybrid working model are particularly vulnerable to poor collaboration, as WFH employees and office workers are partitioned by distance, not to mention access to leadership. Departments might be siloed causing disconnection. Perhaps meetings are poorly run and are not designed for input, alignment and consensus. Maybe there is a lack of positive and transparent communications.
All these negative factors suggest a poor collaboration strategy, which can have a massive negative impact on productivity, profitability and employee retention.
Nearly 9 out of 10 employees blame lack of collaboration as the top reason for workplace failures.
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These days, business leaders are more focused than ever on finding ways to promote employee engagement and productivity. Although circumstances differ from one business to another, certain key principles apply in most cases.
An effective starting point is looking closely at exactly how things get done within your organization. There’s far more complexity than ever before (with respect to innovations in technology, processes and produces), so it’s increasingly critical that you do all you can to help employees do their jobs.
Find time to step back and evaluate how things get done in your business. By assessing workflow and processes, “you’ll come away with a deeper understanding of those operational areas where complexity serves as an obstacle to production, rather than benefiting it.”
Here are other action steps to keep in mind:
Examine the quality of your workplace environment.
Employees will likely be more productive in a work environment that feels comfortable and clean.
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