The cost of creating an unhealthy culture or not building one at all can well, cost you your business. From bad attitudes to poor performance, a bad culture can be the downfall of your company.
Signs Of A Bad Company Culture
A toxic or dysfunctional culture will impact your business in many ways in every department. Here are six ways to spot a toxic company culture.
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Losses in productivity
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Poor customer perceptions
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Low employee retention
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Inability to hire the best and brightest talent
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Damage to brand on social media
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Hostile work environment
A strong culture starts with leadership, leadership that is adopted by employees and evidenced in how customers are treated. An interesting article in Inc. makes an even more compelling argument for avoiding the “toxic culture trap.” The author of this piece points out that even if you luck out and attract some good employees, a poor culture will soon affect them and even turn some into bad team members.
This particular discussion about cultures in Inc. includes other warning signs of a culture gone bad (or never having gotten good) such as:
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Everyone working at a fever pitch all the time
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Leadership that does not model the desired values and performance
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An unclear and/or contradictory company culture
The latter point goes back to the earlier issue that while you may think winning the culture war in your company consists of superficial actions and plastering values on a wall, it just isn’t that easy.
Making A Strong Culture Last
While it is important to capture the elements of your values and culture in a written form, like a Culture Code, that just kick starts the process.
Shawn Parr reinforces this point in an article entitled “Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch.” Reinforcing the idea that culture is more than a vibe or something fluffy, he attacks the misconception that culture is more than office décor or surface effects. Rather, as he points out, great companies have great cultures as part of a long-term and sustainable approach to their employees and customers.
Parr also points to one of the world’s most successful, long-term cultures. While not a business, the United States Marine Corps has developed a culture that has its own name: esprit de corps. Marines fight from their first day of boot camp to prove themselves worthy of their organization and zealously guard their “organizational brand” for the rest of their lives.
Testing The Strength of Your Culture
Test your culture by asking these simple questions posed by Parr:
- “Do you run into your culture every day?"
- "Does it inspire you, or smack you in the face and get in your way, slowing and wearing you down?"
- "Is it overpowering or does it inspire you to overcome challenges?”
Does your culture need some work? Download the first part in our free Company Culture eBook series.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in September of 2015. It has been updated for freshness and accuracy.
