Culture Makan’s Hyper-Growth for Breakfast
Company culture has become both a fascination and buzzword. The original “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” phrase was originated by Peter Drucker and them made famous by Mark Fields, President at Ford. Multiple organizations, including our own, are now asking ourselves this question (or at least a version of it);
How do you maintain company culture when your startup is operating in the disruptive economy and experiencing hyper-growth?
I have seen first hand during my years in People and Culture related roles in different sized organisations, in different geographies and industries, how growth can undermine company culture. This leads me to ask:
Is it possible to find the balance between creating a positive working culture while growing your business and enhancing your bottom line?
I believe it is! This was one of the factors that initially attracted me to Circles.Life, and here’s how we are approaching this culture challenge:
Simple Acknowledgement
During the early stages of Circles.Life there was open communication; it was easy to personally thank team members who had made significant contributions to the company. You saw them in the hallway, or often even shared a desk with them.
As you begin to grow, this kind of direct acknowledgement becomes more tricky. It can be hard to recognize each individual feat, and it can also be challenging to track down and thank each employee for their contribution.
Our employees are our greatest assets, so it’s critical to make them feel appreciated and engaged. At Circles.Life we have numerous cultural rituals, which include consistent emphasis on recognising everyone’s hard work, but also to particularly acknowledge fantastic work done by high-performing team members.
We always have our fingers on our company pulse (we check monthly without fail), and this allows us to have an in-depth understanding of how our staff feel and operate, what they want, and where we might sometimes be going wrong with our company culture game plan. People analytics (Culture Amp provides us our monthly insights) has been a game changer to responsiveness and culture course adjustments during our hyper-growth.
We also run an internal eNPS every quarter, asking our employees just two questions: “How likely would you be to recommend working at Circles.Life to a friend?” and “Why?” This ensures consistent measurement over time, and allows for the most significant concerns to bubble up.
Space Explorers anyone?
One of our three corporate missions is to ‘’build a great place to work and grow’’. To achieve this right from the start, we have developed a high-potential talent programme where we give recognition to outstanding Circles.Lifers, recognising and rewarding those who have truly moved the needle and who exemplify our values.
In return this acts as the bedrock to embed standout stories into firm culture, serving as a best practice benchmark as we expand internationally.
Hiring Standards Need to be On-point
Hyper-growth puts an enormous amount of pressure on your company to hire lots of employees quickly. If you cave in to the stress and replace talent and drive with numbers, your business wears the hit, because the overall quality of your workforce drops.
Don’t forget the reason you are experiencing rapid growth – and maintain the hiring standards you had when you first started. I am adamant about only wanting to hire passionate, dedicated Circle.Lifers. I ensure that they are great at what they do, and that they will fit into our already established culture.
Maintain Company Values
Company values create a unique identity that distinguishes you from the competition, and create the conditions for long-lasting success. One of my favourite traditions is our full company meeting every Monday, usually in our pack office space or in corridors, with drinks and nibbles. Each team presents their accomplishments for that week or month.
Typically, the news is met with a round of applause. Whether you have 20 or 200 employees, this recurring meeting is perfect for maintaining company values while keeping everyone informed of each area of business.
Communication Across The Board
You already know that transparent communication is key. Your organization should strive for seamless staff communication across all job levels and departments. An engineering intern should not feel scared to approach a senior marketing manager to ask where the stationary drawer is. This is where our “no title on business cards” and “flat organizational design” comes in – our staff feel a sense of freedom to take on a level of ownership very early on.
Design an environment that breeds ideas, and allows employees to feel free to voice opinions, ask questions or strike up a conversation – this breeds and sustains authentic culture when you need to scale at speed.
The Verdict
When a company works and plays together, it creates a synergy that makes creating ideas, collaborating efforts, and driving business easy. It also is a sign that co-founders and the senior leadership team have created a cohesive workplace where people are inspired to work.
If you are in a position to change your company culture I’ll leave you with this thought: Most of us spend 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, at work. Why would you not try to make it the most incredible place to be?
This is the challenge I have set for myself at Circles.Life and I will continue to strive towards creating a positive working culture while growing our business and enhancing our bottom line at the same time. Wish me luck!
