Nothing affects your business’s success more than its culture. But how do you cultivate the right one — and then make sure it scales along with your business?
When founders don’t clearly define their workplace culture, they’re prone to ending up with a culture that doesn’t reflect their values. And if they don’t intentionally nurture their culture as they grow, they could even end up with a dysfunctional one.
Why is culture so crucial to success? For one, employees who feel highly connected to their company’s culture are 4.3 times more likely to be engaged, says Gallup. They’re 5.3 times as likely to say their company is a great place to work. And they’re 62% less likely to feel burned out.
Culture also plays a major role in promoting retention. In fact, a poor workplace culture is the strongest predictor of employee turnover. No one wants to work in an environment that feels uncomfortable or prevents them from doing their best work.
Let’s look at what holds companies back from scaling a strong culture. Then, we’ll examine strategies and success stories.
Challenges of Scaling a Culture
For a smaller startup, culture may feel effortless. But as you add new people, challenges in maintaining your desired culture can emerge, for reasons like these:
- Greater separation between leadership and employees. In a startup, the CEO works closely with a small team, but as you scale, that’s no longer the case. Sharing values and vision takes more effort.
- Feelings of disconnection, especially for those working remotely or on a contract basis.
- Differences in culture, background, and mindset. As you work with a broader range of people, you’ll encounter different expectations about how teams should function.
- Uncertainty about what type of culture would work best for your organization.
Fortunately, you can overcome all of these challenges with the right approach to culture. Now, let’s dive into how to do that.
Strategies for Scaling Your Culture
Scaling up your culture starts with gaining clarity on what you stand for. As you add remote or in-house staff, use these strategies to forge a thriving culture at every stage of growth.
Defining — and Living — Your Values
Core values aren’t just nice to have. They shape strategy execution by guiding your choices as well as employees’ behavior. Here’s how to set the right ones for you.
- Identify your core values as a company. (You can also think of them as “attributes” or “elements,” if you prefer.) Stick to a handful of core values; if you add more, no one will remember them. For example, “boldness,” “curiosity,” and “inclusivity” can be values.
- Model your core values as a leader. Think of concrete examples of how you live these values every day. Share these stories or anecdotes in team meetings.
- Look for new hires who reflect your values. When interviewing candidates, ask questions that help you understand whether they live these values.
- Convey your vision to your team, connecting it to your values. Consider sharing a monthly message from the CEO that speaks to your vision and values, and coach managers on how to share them as well.
- Hold everyone to the same standards. No matter how talented an employee is, if they don’t uphold core values like integrity, don’t give them a pass. Your choices will underscore the vital importance of these values.
Some companies have successfully designed a culture based on current employees’ values, McKinsey notes. Rather than imposing values and culture, they looked at what was already working for their teams, distilling it into core values and practices. With your own team, you can follow this approach by looking at what’s working well and then identifying any gaps.
Adopting the Right Processes and Practices
Through well-crafted processes, you can translate the core elements of your culture into practice. Here’s how to do that.
- Look at the qualities and practices of your most highly engaged teams. For instance, what allows them to collaborate effectively across a geographic distance? What practices make their culture feel so inclusive? Adopt these practices across your organization, building them into your culture.
- Engage in remote team-building activities, like virtual check-ins and team rituals. A short check in can set the tone for the workweek, emphasizing that you care about your people on a human level. Build in small blocks of time for socializing, too, so people can get to know each other.
- Work with a remote staffing agency that helps you hire people who are a great fit for your team and culture. IA Blueprint vets virtual assistants, weeding out anyone who doesn’t fit your culture and needs.
- Develop a clear onboarding process that emphasizes your values. Assign a cultural mentor who can help the new assistant acclimate to the organization.
- Share appreciation and praise regularly, making it specific. Give praise for efforts to build new skills and knowledge, as well as for achievements.
Implementing these practices will build a supportive, inclusive, and highly motivated culture that promotes continuous growth.
Adapting to Change
No company’s culture stays the same forever — nor should it. Here’s how to navigate those inevitable changes.
- Celebrate your differences while also finding common ground. Don’t look for people who think exactly like you, but do look for those who share your core values.
- Be open to cultural shifts — new hires can influence culture in a positive direction, keeping it from stagnating.
- If you ever find yourself merging with or acquiring another company, engage in thoughtful discussion of how to integrate your two cultures.
Building a strong culture will help people feel more comfortable taking risks, sharing innovative ideas, and contributing at a higher level. Moreover, on strong teams, everyone will help each other keep growing.
Case Studies
Let’s look at a couple examples of how businesses can strategically scale up their culture — either by maintaining a thriving culture or changing a less-than-ideal one.
1. Rapid Scaling of a Healthy Culture
One small insurance firm planned to quickly hire several new staff members to scale up operations. Knowing they’d be rapidly doubling their size, leaders worried about losing their company’s strong culture. So, they sat down together to define what made it strong.
They came up with a core set of defining attributes: Resourcefulness, problem-solving ability, agility. “We’re small, but we’re scrappy. We come up with outside-of-the-box ways of solving customers’ problems that our competitors haven’t thought of,” said their founder.
How could they make sure these values remained a cornerstone of their culture? First, they integrated them into the job posting they were creating, to target the right people. Then, they crafted a few interview questions that would help reveal whether candidates were on the same page. Additionally, they designed processes that reflected these values, like regular brainstorming sessions on how to solve challenges more efficiently. In these sessions, they engaged people at all levels in generating creative new ideas.
In their onboarding process, they also shared a message from the founder that spoke to how these core values supported their vision. Then, they paired each new staff member with a mentor who could reinforce these values. Through their efforts, they kept their culture strong — and continued solving customer problems in highly effective ways.
2. Making a Cultural Shift
Another company knew that elements of its culture needed to change as it grew. This insurance agency had been operating for five years, and an unhealthy competition had taken root. So, leaders sat down to identify what cultural values would help correct this problem. They also surveyed staff to get their opinions. Collaboration, learning together, and teamwork rose to the top of the list.
So, they adopted weekly team-building activities that would help start things off on the right foot. They also launched a system of peer mentoring that let coworkers share skills with one another. As a result, relationships grew stronger and people saw each other not as competitors but as team members working toward a common goal. As they added new staff, they included them in these activities as well. “I’ve never been part of such a supportive culture before — it’s such a positive environment!” one new hire said.
As you build or enhance your own company’s culture, keep reflecting on how you can live your cultural values more fully. Like the two inspiring companies we’ve just looked at, define your values in detail and hold ongoing dialogue about how they can guide your work. If you’re aiming for a major cultural shift, get everyone on board through talks or workshops on the attributes you’re working to integrate. By taking these steps, you’ll build a thriving culture that aligns seamlessly with your strategy and keeps morale high as you grow.
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