The Business Culture’s Checklist
Article after article, blog after blog and uncountable conversations with the people engaged in entrepreneurship put emphasis among others in one thing: culture. But what does “culture” exactly mean?
According to Frances Frei and Anne Morriss at Harvard Business Review:
“Culture guides discretionary behavior and it picks up where the employee handbook leaves off. Culture tells us how to respond to an unprecedented service request. It tells us whether to risk telling our bosses about our new ideas, and whether to surface or hide problems. Employees make hundreds of decisions on their own every day, and culture is our guide. Culture tells us what to do when the CEO isn’t in the room, which is of course most of the time.”
Basically culture consists of factors which define it such as vision, values, language, the working environment itself and of course the people in it: the employees. Creating, changing or maintaining a company’s culture is connecting with all the above, so it is essential when it comes to culture all the factors to contribute in the way you want.
To begin with, everything starts from a vision or a mission which is going to define the company’s purpose. But this is not enough. The employees have to feel that what they do matters and see the impact in their actions. As an outcome, this feeling will orient every decision that is about to be made. “While a vision articulates a company’s purpose, values offer a set of guidelines on the behaviors and mindsets needed to achieve that vision.” Values which are going to define the way they treat the clients, the behaviours with their colleagues and their way of thinking.
Having all that clear, of course following all the above is not enough because one of the most direct way of having a strong culture are also the employees. The employees are the ones who are going to fulfill the purpose, the values of the company. Keeping them engaged and motivated will create an environment of trust and continuous learning which is going to bring new ideas and a team player feeling.
The importance of a company’s culture is as accurate as the people who consist it. In a partnership with AIESEC with the Global Talent program, you are given the chance to choose the best international interns among a variety of recent graduates and qualified students. Interns who live with vision, values and have the attitude of learning from their own experience combined with their entrepreneurial and management skills. We bring future leaders together with the designers of tomorrow to understand how our actions can lead us to a better world. If you want to learn more, visit here!
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