The quote, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” has been attributed to business guru, Peter Drucker. This is a wonderful, catchy phrase that conveys the importance of Company Culture over just about anything else you do to grow your company.
Before we get into why this is the case, let’s backpedal just a bit. What exactly is Company Culture?
It is the shared values, attributes and characteristics of an organization. It is evident in the way an organization’s people interact with each other, the values they hold, and the decisions they make.
Just about every great and terrible thing that goes on in your company could have happened as a result of your Company Culture.
Think about the worst things that have happened in your clinic recently:
That patient that became upset with a staff member and decided to stop coming to therapy: was the patient just kooky or did one of your staff not place empathy and compassion before “being right”? Maybe both? If your staff had even slight blame in that situation then, a defined Company Culture could possibly have saved the situation.
How about that one employee that seems to bother you more than the others? You know, the one that seems to always be one step away from being in the midst of another problem. Are you the victim of a Company Culture that allows that kind of behavior? Or that maybe doesn’t address the problem the first time it pops up?
What about the great things that have happened recently?
That patient testimonial that almost brought tears to your eyes? It didn’t happen just because one person (even you) excelled. It probably came as a result of a whole team doing the right thing repeatedly. That’s definitely Company Culture showing up.
Are you convinced yet that moving toward a defined Company Culture is important for you? If not here’s an interesting statistic:
47% OF ACTIVE JOB SEEKERS CITE COMPANY CULTURE AS THEIR DRIVING REASON FOR LOOKING FOR WORK.
“Their driving reason.” Wow. Wouldn’t you love to have employees that chose you because they love your culture? I would, partly because…
58% OF EMPLOYEES WOULD STAY AT A LOWER-PAYING JOB IF IT MEANT WORKING FOR A GREAT BOSS.
So with a great Company Culture that resonates with your team, you will attract more selective employees and they are more likely to stay with you. That’s a win-win-win for you, your team AND your patients.
Now that you’re convinced that it is worth working on your Defined Company Culture, here’s one way to dramatically improve it in 30 days:
- Have all your employees complete a survey on how they see your Company Culture right now. If you want to use our survey that has been designed specifically for PT clinics, just email matt@star-mgmt.com.
- Get your leaders together in one room for one hour. Share with them the three worst areas of Culture based on your survey, along with the worst one that relates specifically to your Core Values.
- Have your leaders vote on which component of Company Culture you should work on over the next 30 days. Brainstorm ideas on what you can do to improve that area. Vote on these ideas so you come up with one.
- Don’t announce to all your employees that you are doing this, but have all your leaders follow through with this idea consistently for the next 30 days.
If you are sensitive and consistent with how you implement this one change, you will almost certainly see improvements in morale and engagement in your workforce.
You can then leverage this improvement by redoing steps 3 and 4 again, but don’t stop doing your number one idea. Behavior needs to be consistent if it is going to shape Culture.
If you have any questions about how to create your Defined Company Culture, we’d love to chat. Just send me a question by email.
Matt Slimming, PT, DPT
matt@star-mgmt.com
Recent Comments