Why Your Company Culture Sucks (and What You Can Do to Improve It)

I have had the fortune of working for and with a variety of startups and medium to large businesses in the Midwest. Over the years there have been repeat patterns of how things are done and how culture is crafted at these companies. Here are some observations that I have gathered since then and some ideas on how you might do things differently.

Your hiring process needs work

Do you still ask questions like “Where do you see yourself in 5 years”, or give potential candidates the same carbon copied statement about what your company does like “Widget Inc. is the leading company in providing the best widgets for over 15 years”.

Wow, I'm thrilled. Not only do templated interview questions and statements like those above open your door to job manipulators but the bullshit and lack of enthusiasm in your company can be smelled a mile away. The generational and cultural landscape of employees is greatly shifting and you think mediocre is going to get you “A-players” and “Rockstars”.

On top of these forthcoming changes in what employees value and how they are motivated have you took the time to ask why you are assessing hires using Myers-Briggs or Strengths Finders? Some generations may not be familiar with personality tests while others know exactly how to game the system. Do not rely solely on automated assessments to speed up the hiring process. You'll end up getting a fish trying to climb up your company “tree”.

It’s time for a change:

Change up the environment where you conduct your usual interviews. Does everyone usually sit awkwardly across from each other in an oval shaped room with the familiar colors of blue, grey and beige complete with black chairs?

Take the interviewee for a walk around the office and if it’s too small go outside for a short stroll. I am not saying ditch the old ways but try to inject some energy into the process after the initial sit-down with HR.

Interviewing a millennial? Ask them questions about what motivates them and get them to think creatively and critically about your company’s business objectives and processes. You may learn something new and useful.

You forgot about your employees

Somewhere along the way you got super busy running your company to the point where you had to hire talented well fitted folks to help you grow the business. That’s a good thing. Here’s where reality sinks in.

In the beginning stages of bringing on new people to the mix you gave them a big welcome, a fair compensation package and hopefully your message on what you do and why you do it resonated with them. As time goes on both new and seasoned employees become background objects no more special than the working parts of an intricate but well ran and oiled machine.

Consider this scenario: as the machine hustles and bustles along you get messages from mid level management that John in IT is having performance issues and after numerous attempts to see some improvement the best option is to boot him off the island. Without taking the time to ask John or his direct supervisor for more details you approve a termination request from management. You also suggest that you will personally be there to interview the replacement to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Yet again as time moves on you spend less energy getting to know your employees and give your management staff the go-ahead to automate the hiring and firing process. At some point you will be responding to the internal comments on your company’s high turnover rate and wonder what exactly went wrong.

Companies that care have employees that care:

Catering to the professional and personal needs of every single staff member in your company can be unrealistic. Checking in with them from time to time directly through one-on-ones or company outings? I bet that’s more reasonable.

Does it seem like an employee’s performance is consistent with incremental improvements but you're noticing bags under their eyes? Try catching a minute or two with the employee’s partner or spouse and ask them how they are liking the job. You may find that motivation and morale took a hit after countless overtime was put in to fix some critical bugs from the latest release.

Instead of asking an employee how they are doing for the day try to adjust the question to include a specific task, feature or project they are working on — “I saw the wireframe for website XYZ in the meeting with our clients today. They really like the direction we're going in. How do you feel about it?”.

Another favorite of mine is to observe environment and surroundings. Does an employee tend to have their earphones in for a majority of the day while they plug away on design work? Find out why — you may discover that Hans Zimmer’s epic soundtracks put them in the zone and it’s worth sharing that tidbit with others. You may also find that they simply don't enjoy communicating with coworkers unless they need to. You will never know unless you ask.

Your vision is as clear as mud

Somewhere in that dense and useless company handbook you pass along to every new hire is your company’s vision statement and brass tax objective. Those set of lines are copied over onto your website, print materials and white paper.

Employees are not drones and every single individual is there because they saw something in you and your company that either resonated with them, challenged them to be better professionally or personally, or they believe what you're doing is the coolest freakin’ thing in the world. Find out what that very reason is. You see who is in alignment with your company and why which is the driving force that pushes the business forward.

As I've said earlier if your company is the “best at making widgets”, you better damn sure have the numbers, results and confidence they you are THE best. Everyone says they are the best but what makes you unique? Revisit that vision statement over some beers at a cook-out, ask your sales team what exactly they have been “selling” over the phones and in meetings, and take a look at what has changed in your company’s product, services, people and processes.

You may find that one small change has had a great impact on what you have been making and how it’s being made. All the while your brand and culture keep trying to convince the world of the message and vision long forgotten while everyone has either moved on or is confused by what you are saying and doing.

You manufacture culture and force it

During the early stages of your business when you had say the first ten, twenty or thirty employees you might have had a few late night sessions of Counter Strike at the office.

Years later you are taking manhours out of the day to try and rekindle the spark of this organically spawned event you had with the original crew. 200 employees later some of the staff bemoans the impending “frag session” you reinforce year after year. The example seems a bit extreme but you get the idea.

Want to know of another company activity that businesses need to get rid of? Casual Fridays. There I said it. You can think of something a lot more exciting and positive than wearing blue jeans one day a week.

How to cultivate instead of simply create:

Your employees have lives outside of the workplace and with those comes a set of hobbies, passions, play-time and brainstorming that’s happening outside of office hours.

Try asking your staff where they like to go out for local brews and good food on the weekend. Maybe the marketing department has a humble meet-up of outdoor games and recreation on Wednesday afternoons to let some steam off. The point is that your employees are already doing fun stuff on their own.

The first thing is to continue to let everyone have their fun outside of work. The second is that if employees are talking about it in the office it means they are up to the idea of letting other staff members join them. Be open and welcoming about extracurricular activities and see if your company can emulate the spirit of these activities on a voluntary basis.

Something that will be very important to the millennials is to let individuals thrive and do so within reason. There’s no need to turn Fridays into show n tell sessions or throw away dress codes if your product or service is built in such a way. It seems a little “woo-woo” but by giving employees room to breathe and express themselves you may see new modes of creativity and thinking take place during meetings or think-tank sessions.

You say one thing but do another

What has probably frustrated me the most above all else is the classic management fallacy of being told when to do or not do something and then seeing a failure to comply with set guidelines.

If you market your company culture in such a way employees can work in spaces other than their desk then encourage it instead of reprimanding those who bent the rules.

If you glamour new hires with the promise of being able to see their families Monday through Friday yet continuously demand overtime to make up for poor management then keep your word or stop with the false promises.

By now I think the point’s been made clear. Be transparent with who you work for, with and especially with those you lead. Don’t be an asshole.

tl;dr

• Hire the best fits for your company and ensure those who do work for you are in alignment with what you do and why you do it.
• Check in with every single person who works for you and with you. You may not get to everyone today but you can certainly start making sure your employees know you care.
• Stop saying that you are the best. Everyone thinks they are. Ask what makes you the best at X, Y or Z then tell the story to your best customers-your employees. Don’t forget to make it resonate.
• Cultivate culture instead of forcing some novel idea of what culture is at your company. Listen to the people and give them a voice to be heard among your customers both internal and external.
• Be transparent about what you do and why, look for feedback and be intentional about what you say and do. It helps when the major pieces and players are in alignment.

Hope you got something out of this. I have waited too long to vent out some of my frustrations from my professional life and it feels good to get it out of my system and share it with the world to read, glance over, evaluate, criticize or pass along.