We are on a culture kick over here at exaqueo (have you seen our recent posts here, here, and here???). Could be the neat projects we're currently working on, or it could just be our general excitement around this content (we geek out with this stuff). We'll continue the trend in this week's Talent and HR News Weekly Roundup and share recent news around achieving the best company culture. Take a look below:
1) Using Your Culture to Attract Top Talent from Forbes
"Drab offices, deafening silence, draconian rules — these are the trademarks of stifling workplaces. And if your aspirational employees are working in this kind of environment, believe me, they won’t stay long. We all know that finding valuable employees is a hefty time investment, but leaders should spend just as much time building the culture that keeps them. Unfortunately, that’s seldom the case, and the repercussions can be far-reaching. To get some additional insight on this critical topic, I reached out to Fred Virgin, former SVP of HR at GE, and Carolyn D’Anna, Co-Chief Human Resources Officer at CohnReznick, for their opinions on how company culture can be your greatest selling point or biggest hindrance."
2) Steer Your Company Culture Before It Ends Up Steering You from Inc.
"Building the right culture is of paramount importance if you are looking to grow a sustainable business. Like most things in business, achieving a specific cultural result requires a consistent and rigorous approach. Culture cannot be forced; it must be guided and shaped. The following measures when applied over time can help you achieve your cultural goals while your business is growing. Stay connected with all company employees: Senior leadership and especially founders/CEOs need to be in constant "connection" with all their employees, long after the business has grown past 100 employees. Sometimes, when you are in a CEO role it can be difficult after the company achieves "growth equity" status to find the time to spend inside the organization. So many outside forces, like investors, partnerships, business development, and PR are constantly monopolizing CEO time. However, nothing is more powerful to your employee base than hearing directly from the leaders that are shaping the company vision."
3) How One Technology Company Is Leading A Culture Of Change from Forbes
"Looking for a way to lead culture change in your organization? I spoke with, Divya Ghatak, Chief People Officer for GoodData, about the role company culture plays in leadership and business success. Divya was poached away from Cisco to help transform GoodData’s corporate culture. The CEO recognized that the lack of a strong, cohesive culture was holding the organization back from meeting its business objectives, so Divya developed a plan to reshape the internal culture and align itself with the kind of company GoodData wanted to be. Not only is Divya making a significant contribution as a female executive in the technology industry, but she is also paving the way for more effective human resources and people development within GoodData’s organization. Here’s how. Jeff Boss: Divya, you believe strongly in developing a culture of innovation. What sort of challenges did you face when dealing with existing employees who may have been less than innovative and how did they adopt the new creative processes?"
4) Zappos Culture Guru Gives 3 Tips to CEOs from Inc.
"In August I was scanning the radio on my drive to SFO and found Ken Rutkowski's "Business Rockstars" show and he was interviewing Robert Richman, and I was so absorbed in the conversation that I didn't want to get out of the rental car to refuel it, so I just parked in the gas station for a few minutes to listen to the remainder of the show, and actually risked missing my flight. Robert was co-creator of Zappos Insights, a company that shares the magic of Zappos's famous employee culture. He's written a book called The Culture Blueprint, and he calls himself a culture strategist--and he truly is that. CEO 1-2-3 will feature guests who have brilliant insights for CEOs and business leaders with respect to the people part of their organizations. I got in touch with Robert and we had several fascinating phone conversations, and I'm very excited to launch this new column with him as my first guest."
5) How to Create and Maintain a Workplace Culture That Will Make Your Company Thrive from Forbes
"Developing a successful cultural direction for your workplace may seem like one of a thousand tasks to complete as a new CEO. Nevertheless, it is one of the most important ongoing responsibilities for any business leader, as the vast majority of successful companies have dynamic cultures. These cultures are often the result of long, careful thought and analysis. They are intended to answer questions like, 'What central values are important to our company? How do we share them with our team? How will our cultural values impact our day-to-day operations?' Your responses to the questions above – as well as many others related to developing your corporate culture – will shape how that culture evolves over time. Truth be told, either you can shape your own culture or it will inevitably shape itself (credit to Ben Horowitz for articulating the phenomenon in this way). Based on my own career experience and having read countless case studies on workplace culture, you don’t want to let the culture set itself."
Lexi Gordon is a Lead Consultant for exaqueo, a workforce consultancy that helps organizations build their cultures, employer brands and talent strategies. Contact exaqueo to learn more about how we can help you build a workforce that’s aligned with your company culture and develop an employer brand that will allow your business to scale the right way.