What does it mean to you?

Summary:  What does culture mean to a business? Define it, work it, use it and celebrate it. It’s all good.

A lot is said about culture – how to define it, do you need one and what does it mean to your business. To many businesses this sound like a “big business” idea and may not realize what this means to them.

Park Guell by Gaudi, Barcelona Spain

What does culture mean to a small business? Culture is essentially the personality of the company, what makes it a great place to work and the kind of people working in it.  Think of the companies you admire – what kinds of words do you use to describe it, does it sound like you are talking about a person than a company? Usually, since a personality makes it more personable to us.

What is your culture? Keep in mind their is no right or wrong answer here – your culture is what it is. The real question then becomes – is this what you want it to be?

Define it. Take out a piece a paper and write down the words that describe your company. How do your clients see it? How do your people see it? How do you see it? It’s possible you have three very different lists.

Work it. If your lists don’t match, you need to figure out what you want your culture or “personality” to be and work towards it. Having different view points between the three creates more of a multiple personality disorder than a culture.

Use it. Your culture should be used to find new hires who fit in, attract clients (people like to work with companies like themselves), and keep people motivated.

Celebrate. Enjoy who and what you are.

Share your culture with us below.