How Fast Growth Companies are Building Cultures to Foster High Performance Teams
Culture Matters.
At Venwise, the curated community of business leaders I founded back in 2012, our aim is to help members solve their biggest business problems via our peer networking sessions, events and more. From time to time, we ask our members to weigh in on big topics and then share some of the insights that surface.
One topic currently top of mind is high performance. Specifically, how companies are building high performance into the DNA of their business. We wanted to know more, so we asked our members — top execs at fast growth companies — for their perspectives.
The results are here.
Building the right company culture for high performance and then operationalizing it is key. So how do you do that?
Start With Recruiting.
To build high performance into the bench of the business, it starts with the type of talent you’re recruiting. And it’s not about Ivy League backgrounds — only 14% of Venwise members say academic background is a quality they look for. Qualities like work ethic (88%), reliability (78%) and culture fit (77%) are more of what these bosses seek.
Meaning, Not Money.
The big draw for talent is not necessarily all about money or perks; it’s the prospect of working for a purpose-driven company whose leaders embody that purpose. In fact, our members say that having a strong mission as a North Star and inspiring leaders who embody that mission are twice as important to building and fostering the right high performance culture than compensation, perks or company performance.
Get Transparency Levels Right.
The vast majority of those surveyed believe company culture with key qualities like transparency, feedback and communication are highly important to fostering high performance.
However, the perception of transparency at the company differs widely between leaders and their teams. C-suiters give their company’s culture high marks — 66% think transparency is one of their biggest strengths. Yet 25% of survey respondents who are team-members said transparency at their companies need work. Full transparency is not always possible in an organization. Sometimes C-Suiters have a blind spot about how transparent they are. Other times, it’s by design.
What we hear from members on this subject: be transparent about what you’ll be transparent about. Set expectations with your teams. Clarify areas where you will consistently be open about versus those areas you won’t always be able to disclose. Maybe you want everyone to know the numbers the board expects you to hit but you don’t want to share the cap table. Either way, it’s smart to set expectations from the start, open up lines of communication and keep them flowing.
Offer a career path.
Employees care about career development. It’s not as hot as other recruiting tactics might be at the moment, but maybe that’s an opportunity. Offering a clear career path, programs like tuition reimbursement, or training might resonate with up and coming talent. Consider asking about desired career path during an employee’s on-boarding or launch a meaningful employee development program. It might give your company a competitive advantage when it comes to recruiting AND attracting high performing talent.
The Upshot
If you want to build a high performing organization, be intentional about how its cultural values blend into the company’s design. The company culture you engineer is critical and it starts with bringing the right team members into the fold. Be transparent, seek and listen to feedback; and keep lines of communication open.
For more information on Venwise, visit www.venwise.com.
