Culture is Critical to Success

Why is corporate culture so important for a successful business? Before we answer that, we have to first identify what culture is. According to Investopedia.com, “Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions.”

From our experience, culture is critical – it breeds a winning team and provides the foundation for employee commitment, performance standards, and accountability. In the absence of culture, employees and managers interpret, or in other words, make their own decisions on the behaviors and attitudes required to please or accommodate their respective supervisors. As a result, culture confusion happens, and everyone begins to row in different directions. Employees do not know how to act so they do whatever is necessary to survive, diminishing value of your organization.

It is often obvious when employees are engaging in behavior representative of not knowing the culture of your multi-unit franchisee organization or, if there is a lack of culture present. You can see this when walking into a location and spending some time watching employee interaction, you can see wildly differing behaviors and attitudes in their work. Another common scenario is the presence of “turf wars” between managers and departments. Varying attitudes, behaviors, and processes in a setting where you are attempting to accomplish one goal can be devastating to teamwork and productivity.

So how do get your employees on board with your franchise culture (or perhaps how do you create one)? Simple, take stock of what you have compared to the following key characteristics:

• Commitment to non-negotiables
• Identified core values
• Core operating procedures
• Reasonable performance expectation
• Accountability
• Established vision for business development and growth
• Dedication to training, technology, and facilities
• Commitment to recruit, train, and retain highly qualified support management
• Commitment to mentoring successors for every critical management position

In the absence of these characteristics not only will you struggle to know who your employees really are (what kind of talents, values, or common principles they share to be a part of the team). In addition, they will not be able to perform to performance standards. Therefore, suggestions for consideration when developing or updating your franchise culture include:

• Evaluate your culture
• Engage in strategic planning
• Core value, mission, vision
• 3 objectives critical to fulfillment of vision
• Action steps with responsible parties to achieve objectives
• Confirm job descriptions, performance expectations, and compensation plans are in alignment with strategic planning outcomes
• Develop a bench strength development program
• Identify existing leadership talent
• Coach individuals based on behaviors and attitudes
• Integrate industrial psychology into culture to enhance communication and leader influence
• Identify talent void
• Recruit based on identified organizational core values, behaviors, and attitudes consistent with the culture

As you can see, culture is a critical part of all aspects of your business. From recruiting and retention, operating efficiencies, and driving value, culture should be considered a core foundation of your operating strategy. Without it, and your employees all on board with it, you minimize the value of your multi-unit franchisee organization, and potentially set yourself up for failure.

 Kendall Rawls knows and understands the challenges that impact the success of an entrepreneurial owned business. Her unique perspective comes not only from her educational background; but, more importantly, from her experience as a second-generation family member employee of The Rawls Group - Business Succession Planners. For more information, visit www.rawlsgroup.com or email info@rawlsgroup.com.