«A company lives from the culture of its employees.»
Eric Schmidt, CEO Google 2011-2015
Without sense, everything has no purpose
Hello Share Holder Value. Hello Social Value.
After decades of focusing on Share Holder Value, companies are now caught in the optimization trap. Despite the high company value, employee retention, customer loyalty and social acceptance are at a low. This is questionable and causes wrinkles in the forehead of the owners.
The task of the managers is to make something valuable, the culture of the company, visible, tangible, perceptible and visualizable. This task is much broader than keeping numbers under control.
Company culture and purpose
Today, it is important that employees are part of the culture. Culture and purpose must be understandable, meaningful, tangible, and perceptible to employees. Communicating an understandable and tangible company culture to employees is the order of the day. They should feel, experience and know what their company is and what it stands for. Wherever employees work, they should share in the culture. Only in this way it is possible to promote the attractiveness of jobs and, ultimately, the well-being of the workforce; this then also ensures the economic success of the organization.
New office world
How do I shape the new office world so cool and inspiring that I would rather come to the company than work at home? In these considerations and their design, it is imperative that employees are involved in the deliberations as well as in the implementation. A new, dynamic team culture must be established and employees must be involved in this process. Conversely, this also means involving the employees in the company's new culture definition, as well as describing them. The new culture therefore describes not only the values of the company and the behavior of the employees, but also the people who belong to it.
In harmony
With the right people in the right company, we achieve alignment of opinions and actions. This leads to cooperation in accordance and brings harmony. To achieve this harmony, the values of the company and the employees must be in consistency.
The questions about why, how and what are just as important for entrepreneurs as they are for (future) employees.
As an entrepreneur, you ask yourself:
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What (what do we want to achieve?)
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How (how do we want to achieve it?)
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Why (why do we want to achieve it?)
As an employee, you ask about:
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Who (who am I working for?)
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Why (why do I work?)
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How (how do I work?)
If you clarify these questions jointly, you will know the roots of the company's much-cited “Purpose”. You understand what sense of purpose your employees have.
The process to a strong corporate culture
We bring together the company and its people; this by the means of the value anchor. This is how we define a strong company culture.
The basis for a sustainable, perceptible and tangible culture are the values that prevail in a company. With the value anchor, we uncover the personal values of the people. This results in mutual understanding and appreciation – indispensable elements of a culture.
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The company's values are defined as a function of vision/mission. The company culture can be derived very easily from the company values. We make sure that this is formulated in a way that everyone can understand. If the culture definition is to fulfill its purpose, it must be understood by all employees. They should be able to experience and “grasp” the culture. It is only in this way that the culture is supported by everyone.
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The management level is responsible for anchoring the culture in the company. It is them who must incorporate the culture into their management style, communication and decision-making processes.
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Culture as a driver in the company
The corporate culture developed, defined and anchored in this way forms the prerequisite for hybrid forms of work. This is how heterogeneous teams can be managed. The culture forms the drive for employees for motivation, agile behavior and personal responsibility in their work for the company.
And here is another philosophical thought: The company culture tangible, understood, lived and supported by everyone, leads to harmony in the company.
Coaching process for an agile corporate culture.
