Business Culture Basics: 5 Tips to Cultivating a Culture that can Impact your Bottom-Line.

The phrase business culture has generated a lot of buzz in recent years, and while some may write it off as just another example of corporate jargon, it can be an important concept for businesses to address. If you need proof that business culture is more than just some meaningless thought experiment, simply look at all of the uber-successful companies that have made business culture development a priority. IBM, Apple, Google—these are companies that have invested a great deal in developing corporate culture—and you can see where it has gotten them.

Study after study has confirmed exactly that corporate culture can make a bottom-line difference. A Harvard study has shown that more than half of a company’s operating profits can be traced back to its corporate culture. In other words, this is not just an HR or a morale concern, but something that sets the tone for what kind of success your business is able to develop. An investment in corporate culture is an investment in the future of your brand, period—in higher sales, higher employee retention levels, lower marketing costs, and more.

Here are 5 steps that companies can follow as they seek to develop their business culture:

1. Decide on what that culture should be. When it comes to establishing the culture of your business, you don’t have to feel bound by what other companies are doing, but rather, you can really take ownership of. What’s the difference between companies with strong, robust cultures, and the ones without? Often, it’s a simple matter of those former companies deciding on the kind of culture they wish to possess, and then moving forward with it.
2. This, in and of itself, may sound like it is easier said than done. The key… Keep it authentic. If you try to force unnatural values on your business, it’s only going to cause friction. Impose a culture that flows naturally from your products and services, from the makeup of your core team, even from your own personality traits.
3. An important step in the cultivation of business culture is getting it down on paper. You do not necessarily need a formal ‘statement of culture’ for your brand, but you should have some written collateral that provides some insights into what your corporate culture is. Your company’s mission statement, or its vision statement, should denote the objectives and values that your company holds dear—and of course, that points toward the nature of your business culture.
4. Involve members of the team—to an extent. You don’t necessarily want to take the committee approach to this, because doing so could result in a hodgepodge of ideas, or a culture that doesn’t necessarily hold together in a cohesive fashion.  However, your company culture will more likely work out if you take into account the needs, values, and personalities of your team members.
5. Create positive and motivational rituals. Rituals and mile-markers can help you to really formalize and codify your cultural values. For example, maybe your company buys lunch for employees on their anniversary dates, or offers incentives for sales quotas exceeded. All of this reflects your corporate values, and thus your corporate culture.

An important facet of sustaining company culture is hiring people who seem like they will fit right into it. When making hire, look beyond on-paper credentials. Also consider how well the person’s personality will fit in with your business culture.

One thing to remember as you build your culture, it is not necessarily set in stone—and trying to keep it static can prove counterproductive. You should aim for consistency while also remembering that businesses evolve—which might mean modifications need to be made to maintain a positive impact as the business grows.