You need to define who you are, what's important to your organization, and what you value.
If you don't have a well-defined company culture today, it's not because you don't want one.
It's because you haven't taken the time to document your company's purpose in life. The sheer act of documenting turns an idea into a process that people can understand, associate with, adhere to, and execute on.
Without a Mission, You're Just Another IT Company
Before you start building your company culture, you need to define your mission.
As a technology business leader, you are probably pretty passionate about helping people improve with intelligent technology solutions, right?
But what makes you different from all the other IT Business Leaders who say the same thing?
To stand out from the crowd, you need a Mission Statement (check ours out here) - but how do you create one that's genuine and meaningful? How do you create one that attracts the right people and clients?
To create the right mission and enforce it appropriately, consider strategic alignment over business strategy. Start with an accessible and clear mission — the practical reason for the company's existence comes second to how, what and when.
Mission brings clarity, awareness, engagement, innovation, improvement and achievement.
Here a few examples of mission statements from some successful IT businesses:
At Attentus, we believe that education is a crucial component of any successful I.T. solution. That’s why we make it a priority to learn about your business, so we can speak your language and work together through the I.T. process—from prep through delivery to monitoring and follow-up.
Our clients are our partners, and their success is our success. To achieve this common goal, we fuse together our laser-focused passion for technology with our multi-environment experience to enhance our clients’ already proven business models.
Our experience has shown that a technology landscape where all the components are communicating with each other and with external, industry-specific systems provides our clients the highest performance, stability, and returns on investment.
Without The Right People In The Right Seats, You're Just Another IT Company
Once you have defined your mission, you'll need to think about your people. Do they all value the same things? Do their values align with your company's mission?
Today’s employees have high expectations of their employers, and it goes far beyond just a paycheck.
In fact, a recent LinkedIn survey found that people would rather put up with lower pay (65%) and forego a fancy title (26%) than deal with a bad workplace environment.
The survey also showed that employees care about whether companies foster environments where employees can be themselves (47%) and have a positive impact on society (46%). Today’s workforce wants to know that they’re making a difference within their companies.
While work cultures are unique to every organization, the foundation of what enables a culture to thrive is how much employees are empowered to be engaged, valued, and heard.
This is where leadership comes in. There is only so much information a business leader can learn by tracking numbers, charts and graphs.
To move forward in your business, and prepare your organization for growth, your entire team must be on board and in-line with your company mission. This includes any new tools you must implement to prepare for that growth.
When you define and document your mission, then share it across your team - you can begin to provide employees something to connect with. Simultaneously, you can identify if you have the right employees on staff based on your company mission.
It's Hard To Build Relationships With Rockstars Clients When They Don't Understand Your Mission
It's not enough to build a business with clients who pay on time, you need the right clients. I'm talking about clients who value your work, your expertise, your approach to technology management.
What if there was a way to attract only the clients who valued everything your organization stands for?
Well there is. It 's all about defining your company's mission and hiring and firing clients by it.
But culture is only an asset if people know about it and feel good about it. If you have a great culture, flaunt it—leave a fingerprint on every aspect of the employee experience.
Think of it as an external marketing campaign.
Invest in creative assets that make a splash and show why your company is great. Produce a recruiting video and include the company dog. Create a colorful brochure to promote your core values. Have your executive team consistently include company catchphrases in employee communications.
