Q&A with John Ruh on Corporate Culture
What is corporate culture?
There is no one answer. If you get 50 business people in a room and ask them that question, you will get 50 different answers. That is the heart of the problem of talking about company culture. It’s clear as mud.
You’ve said you don’t think any company should use the term culture. Why?
People hearing this term put their own spin on the meaning of it and often it’s not what the speaker had in mind. This often ends with people thinking they’re in agreement when they’re not. It’s confusing!
What would you call it instead?
I believe you should speak in terms of the vision, values and goals your company has, and the corresponding behavior you expect. Your modus operandi. Call it “Your way of doing business.”
How do you figure out what “Your Way of Doing Business” is?
You need to take time to thoroughly understand what’s important to your business and where you want to go. You also need someone who comprehends vision, values and knows how to put Your Way of Doing Business into a written format that all your employees can understand.
Why do it?
As a leader it is your job to clarify what is important (how your game is played). How can people complete in any game if they don’t understand the outcome, the rules and what is important to you as the coach?
How do you make employees aware of this?
Once you determine it, you can put it into a formal document of, Your Way of Doing Business, for both new and existing employees. Then it becomes an ongoing issue of training employees on the concept.
How do you find people who fit in to “Your Way of Doing Business”?
By interviewing people based first and foremost on vision and values alignment. If their vision, goals and values and don’t align with yours, their other qualifications don’t matter. They won’t fit into your company.
How do you do that?
That’s a whole other topic. For information on finding people who fit in to “Your Way of Doing Business”, contact Scott Urban (630) 462-7289 or via email.
Questions / Comments - Call or email your questions/thoughts and let’s discuss this subject.