Internal corporate culture
Internal culture is a major operational component of a company It is intended to build a community of purpose within a team, focus on driving success and individual responsibility for delivery on assignments. At each level, employees should be focused on delivery of results, increasing their performance and resolving issues as they emerge instead of generating them or looking for an excuse for failure to meet the budget.
This is what I call “no excuse culture”.
In each company I worked for, I held regular meetings with direct reports, but also periodically with others. Put very briefly, the conversation often went along these lines:
Me: Where are you with your budget?
Employee: Boss, I’m doing what I can but you know the market is sluggish, customers are delaying decisions, competitors are offering better prices, and so on.
Me: But it’s only the beginning of the quarter. What are you going to do to meet the budget anyway? What measures are planning to take?
Employee: I’m doing what I can, but, you know, it’s not easy.
Me: If you have no clue what to do today, this means that you neither want to nor will meet the budget. I’m giving you a week to come to me with an idea of how to meet the budget.
What are the lessons from this conversation? There are three:
- The employee is looking for excuses for failure to meet the budget, and not for ways of meeting it.
- He is not looking for solutions that will lead him to the goal.
- The employee sets an appalling and demoralizing example to other team members.
If the employee does not come up with an idea in a week, this will be a clear sign that his attitude has nothing to do with “no excuse culture”. You can give him one more chance, but if his attitude does not change, you’d better not give him yet another one.
The next rule of internal culture arises directly from the example above: “You’re only as good as your last quarter”.
To achieve a level of internal corporate culture that supports the achievement of goals, build your own advisory team composed of employees who are both willing and knowledgeable. Discuss all important matters with them. Make them have the sense of participation in running and managing the business. Build in them the knowledge of what is most important in business, but also listen, listen and listen again. You’ll find out that they will build an appropriate internal culture with you to support your goals. Give them freedom, but at the same time make them responsible for what they do.
Build the belief in employees that the result is not the sole responsibility of CEOs, directors or managers, but that it is shared by each and every one of them. All employees without exception. From the reception up to the board.
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