Category: Teamwork & Leadership

Everyone has a job that they remember. Whether it was the laissez-faire style of a teenage summer job or a boring stint as one of many cubicle-bound office workers, the company culture that existed in those jobs significantly impacted your enjoyment or discontent of those positions.

If you’re a small business owner who is attempting to build a company culture, it’s important to ensure your next hire fits in within that culture; otherwise, there could be potential problems later.

What is a cultural fit?

As an all-encompassing notion within a company that dictates everything from how people interact with one another to the style of banter that takes place in the office, a company’s culture is an intangible factor that matters more than you might think.

According to Culture Amp’s Sophia Lee, a cultural fit is the “concept of screening potential candidates to determine what type of cultural impact they would have on the organization.” This screening is done by focusing on the “values, beliefs and behaviors” that exist between an employee and their employer.

Cheryl Hyatt, co-founder of Hyatt-Fennell Executive Search, defines company culture as the organization’s “mission, values and approach.” Hiring, said Hyatt, goes beyond what’s listed in the job posting.

“Job descriptions usually focus on the roles and responsibilities of an individual position by listing the necessary experience and skills needed for a job,” she said. “However, each job is within the context of a unique organization. It’s not just what they do, but how and why they do it.”

According to Hyatt, two companies engaged in the same business undertake their work in different ways, and for different reasons. By understanding what makes your business uniquely successful, Hyatt said, you can understand how to best foster success within your workforce and the company at large.

Why is workplace culture so important?

Recent data suggests that Americans spend approximately 1,764 hours per year working. That translates to 73.5 consecutive days without stopping, or 10.5 weeks without breaks. With so much time spent working, it’s important that those long hours aren’t miserable ones. There are additional reasons as well why you want to create a strong, positive work culture among your existing and new employees.

It keeps employee engagement up.

One way to avoid having your workers be miserable is by creating a company culture that makes them want to come to work.

How a company does that depends on the type of business it is and its ability to create an environment that keeps employee engagement up. By fostering a company culture that keeps your team focused on the task at hand, Greg Besner, founder of CultureIQ, said it is possible to create an environment that boosts productivity.

“Hiring for mission and value alignment is arguably the most important piece of the puzzle to get right,” he said. “If someone isn’t inspired by your mission or on board with your values, then the employee won’t feel as incentivized to contribute. Further, other employees will know if a new colleague isn’t getting the culture or doesn’t care, and this can tear your company apart.”

It establishes a company’s “personality.”

Over time, workplace culture becomes analogous to the company’s overall personality. Provide a workplace where people feel comfortable, accepted and part of something they want to contribute to, Hyatt said, and you can enjoy the fruits of a “mutually advantageous relationship.”

“People do not only want a job as a way to make a paycheck, they want a job as a way to make a difference,” Hyatt said, referring in particular to today’s largest segment of the workforce – millennials.

Employers, said Hyatt, benefit from employees who work hard for the company’s mission.

“Simultaneously, you provide meaningful work in a positive context,” she said. “An individual who is a poor cultural fit will not have a positive impact on the team where they are placed and may not last long with your company, which is an unfortunate use of time and valuable resources.”

People who don’t mesh well can spoil the culture.

It can only take one person who doesn’t work well in the already established office culture to ruin the feeling for everyone. Therefore, it’s important small business owners and managers pay attention to a candidate’s personalityand cultural fit while evaluating their business talent.

“When the hiring process is effective, the candidates that are hired are more likely to be satisfied, motivated and committed,” Besner said. “Successful recruits are motivated to exceed their goals, proactive about learning new skills and starting new projects, positive in their approach to work, creative in solving problems, and committed to developing their careers at the organization.”

How do you quantify a candidate’s cultural fit?

When going through the interview process with new candidates, research where they’ve been, what skills they may possess and what they can bring to your team from an operational standpoint.

How, though, do you properly assess a potential candidate’s cultural compatibility?

Though you can’t necessarily assign a point value to a person’s cultural fit within your company, nor can you see it in front of you, there are ways you can glean whether a candidate will work well with your current group. According to Hyatt, it involves asking thoughtful interview questions and carefully listening to the answers provided.

“When evaluating a candidate, looking at their experience and accomplishments is helpful, but the most important thing is to ask intentional interview questions and listen to their answers,” Hyatt said. “The purpose of an interview is for a candidate and a company to get to know one another, which is why it’s the perfect place to evaluate cultural fit from both sides. Interviewers should ask questions about a candidate’s values, approaches and career aims. A candidate should learn more about a company’s legacy, mission and strategy.”

Evaluating cultural fit goes beyond the candidate interview

Once hired, the evaluation doesn’t end. Besner believes it’s through the “employee life cycle” of the onboarding process, training, and, eventually, daily life in the office that you gain an even better understanding of their place within the corporate culture and whether they’re a good fit.

“After an employee is hired, consider the rest of the employee life cycle … and look for ways to embed the company’s values throughout the employee life cycle,” he said. “Every policy, process, and program is an opportunity to reiterate the mission and values.”

Potential pitfalls of hiring for cultural fit

While it’s important to keep your company culture in mind when seeking out a new hire, you’re running a small business, not a social club. Work still needs to get done, and people need to be professional.

It’s with that concept in mind that you should remember that while important, your company culture is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to making a hiring decision. Hiring a successful candidate relies on several factors, with cultural fit being one of them. As a small business owner looking to hire the best candidate for the job, you have to make sure the person you hire has the skills to contribute right away.

Hiring strictly for a cultural fit may be tempting, but your business depends on strong and competent employees who can get things done. It can severely hurt your bottom line if they’re too busy goofing off or not getting things done.

“Cultural fit is one vantage point that employers must consider, a wide lens, but it’s not the only vantage point,” Hyatt said. “A candidate doesn’t just need to fit a company, they need to fit a team and a role. An individual could be right on track with an organization’s vision and ethos and have none of the strengths or skills needed in a particular department or position.”

Why It’s Important New Hires Fit a Company’s Culture [Business.com]

There’s a reason “The Room Where It Happens” is one of Broadway hit Hamilton’s standout songs: the track’s theme — longing to be included among key decision-makers in the place in which decisions are made — is timeless.

The right type of body language can help get you into that room.

Confident body language is a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts: The more you project success, competence and resources, the more those things will likely be awarded to you. As far as the body language you want to present, making it a habit is vital. Just as important is spending time in the same vicinity as the people with the power to help you reach your goals — and projecting confidence to them, said Mark Bowden, author of Winning Body Language and other books on the subject. Being in the right place at the right time with the right people is the best way to use your body language to supercharge your goals.

Whether you’ve got your eyes set on a raise, partnership, promotion or any other new business opportunity, here are five body language tips to help get you there.

Take advantage of your full height.

Four or five inches in height — in other words, the difference between the 25th percentile and the 75th — could translate to a salary increase of 9 to 15 percent, according to research published in 2015. Though you can’t grow taller by sheer force of will, you can make use of every inch you’ve got by standing (and sitting) tall.

“Power, status and confidence are nonverbally displayed through the use of height and space,” said Carol Kinsey Goman, creator of the LinkedIn Learning course “Body Language for Leaders.”

Don’t be afraid to take up space.

If you’re looking to add a few more notches to your perceived height, make a habit of taking up more space: Stand up and move around when presenting in a meeting, hook your elbow on the back of your chair while seated or spread out your belongings on the conference table, Goman said.

Another strategy: Sit a handspan from the table in meetings and negotiations, Bowden said. You’ll appear taller because others in the room will be able to see more of you, and when you reach out to take something from the table, such as a notepad or glass of water, your arm will stretch out further — resulting in the perception that you’re taking up more space. For better or worse, our built-in instincts tell us that big is more powerful than small, Bowden said. People tend to award higher salaries, honor and resources to those they perceive as more powerful.

Don’t discount the power of a smile and eye contact.

Want to be memorable? Break out a toothy grin. Research published in 2015 suggests that “socially positive signals conveyed by smiling faces” may prompt people’s memory of both the person they met and the meeting’s context — especially if they perceived both of those factors as positive. Smiling at someone also often triggers them to return the gesture — and that muscle movement, in turn, can positively impact their emotional state.

And it may be one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it’s oft-repeated for a reason: Eye contact projects confidence. Aim to maintain eye contact for 50 to 60 percent of the time you speak with someone, Goman said. Here’s a strategy to help you build the habit: When starting a conversation, look into the other person’s eyes for long enough to note their color.

Talk with your hands.

People perceive quality leaders to be calm and assertive, and there’s a type of body language that denotes those qualities: open-handed gestures at navel height. This movement inherently suggests that you’re honest with nothing to hide, and it also projects trust, credibility, confidence and calm, Bowden said — all before you’ve even opened your mouth to speak.

An oft-cited piece of research published in 2007 focuses in on Broca’s area, an area of the brain associated with speech production, and suggests that making hand gestures while speaking can play an important cognitive role for both a speaker and a listener. For the former, it can aid in “semantic retrieval and selection,” or choosing which words to use and why. Goman, an executive coach, said that when her clients incorporated gestures into their speeches, their speech content improved and their use of “filler words” decreased.

Identify your common nervous gestures, then work to break those habits.

Whether it’s twirling your hair, wagging your foot, rolling your neck or fidgeting with your hands, you likely have a go-to nervous tic (and if you’re unsure what it is, your peers can likely point you in the right direction). Repetitive anxious behavior often takes away from the image you’re trying to portray: a calm, cool and collected leader.

To reset your body language and project confidence, take a deep breath and practice being still, Goman said. There’s a good chance that practicing meditation can help that feel more natural, and there are a host of apps out there for beginners who want to dip a toe in the water.

These 5 Body Language Secrets Could Put You on the Road to a Million Dollars [Entreprenuer]

The importance of mentorship is slowly gaining recognition in the world of leadership, but it is still something of a foreign concept to many business leaders. While mentorship programs have their place among employees, a mentor for a leader is a novel concept.

When people think of business mentors, they often think of a relationship they cultivate with a superior rather than a person they hire. If you are at the top of the food chain in your own company, however, you might need to hire a mentor – someone who will help you through tough situations and be a second opinion when it comes to making the tough choices. Here are 5 warning signs you should hire a business mentor.

1. When You Start To Feel It’s You Against The World

Like the old saying goes, it’s lonely at the top and the higher you climb, the lonelier it gets. While you may have started a business with a partner or partnered up along the way, but over the long haul people’s commitment level can vary.

When you start to feel as if you are all alone trying to put out fires and forge new paths, it might be time to hire a mentor. A mentor is not a business coach – they are someone who has walked in your shoes and has already navigated the terrain you are navigating. They are not another partner but they can be an invaluable sounding board.

2. When It Becomes Hard To Get An Unbiased Opinion

As much as everyone wants to deny that they have either biases or prejudices, the truth is, we all have them. In fact, if there is any type of intelligence that should be naturally unbiased, it would be artificial intelligence. But even artificial intelligence has to be programmed, and it turns out even programmers have biases they are unconsciously passing on to their programs. Getting a truly unbiased opinion may be impossible, but there are certain factors that make people more or less biased. The less of a stake someone has in your ultimate decision, the less biased their opinion is likely to be.

Your partners and subordinates all have a fairly large stake in your decisions, which makes it nearly impossible to get an unbiased opinion from them. They will most likely either tell you what they think you want to hear or whatever benefits them the most. Theoretically, a mentor should have nothing to gain or benefit from you moving in one direction or the other, so they can offer you the most unbiased feedback.

3. When Your Company Culture Takes A Wrong Turn

The key importance of a good company culture is that cultures are self-perpetuating. When you have a company culture that is based on encouraging each other rather than tearing each other down, your culture itself provides the impetus to make it through rough patches. If your company culture is based on learning to take harsh criticism, then it can make already difficult situations even worse. A good mentor is someone who has themselves built both good and bad company cultures. They have most likely had many painful experiences with having to suffer through a difficult culture they created. That gave them the wisdom and experience necessary to create a good company culture. Ultimately, by hiring a mentor you are paying to enjoy the wisdom gained by someone else’s failures. This can help shorten your own and make them less painful.

4. When You Need To Navigate Rough Waters

In a digital world, all businesses are susceptible to being rocked by scandal at any time. In some cases, otherwise reputable companies can be unknowingly or unwittingly participating in fraud or other types of criminal activity or even be harboring criminals within their walls. The larger a business is, the less likely one person is to know what everyone else is doing. Sometimes, it may be the business owner or CEO themselves that is unaware of what one of their partners or subordinates may be doing. When scandal hits, a good mentor can help you navigate rough waters and hopefully help you land back on solid ground.

5. When You Need To Press Forward Into Uncharted Territory

A mentor is (or at least should be) essentially a guide that can help you find your own best path. A good mentor will not (and in fact cannot) tell you what path is right for you, but they can give you some insight into several paths available. What was right for them in a specific instance might not be right for you, but a good mentor has most likely been down many paths and can help you find the one right for you, even if it wasn’t the right one for them. While they can’t tell you which one is right for you, they can tell you something about the potential pitfalls of several courses of action and some benefits to be gained from each one.

When choosing a mentor, it is important to ensure you are getting a guide that is more concerned with your growth than their own agenda or ego. A bad mentor can steer you from a bad situation into an even worse one. The best course of action when choosing a mentor is to cultivate a relationship long before you genuinely need one. You don’t want to rely on someone in the middle of a crisis only to find out they are not reliable. Better to test them out in calm waters than wait to see what they are made of in the middle of a storm.

 

Jen McKenzie is an independent business consultant from New York. She writes extensively on business, education and human resource topics. When Jennifer is not at her desk working, you can usually find her hiking or taking a road trip with her two dogs. You can reach Jennifer @jenmcknzie

So, you’ve started your very own business. It’s making a decent out of money even though it’s still only small and you want to expand. Either by growing beyond the four walls of your home office and into a real office space or into a much bigger corporate space. Whatever is the case, you will need employees and other staff members in place in order to make this growth feasible. After all, Rome was not either built in a day nor by one person alone.

For this reason, you will need to fill a number of roles in your startup. Some of which may be more obvious than others to a first-time entrepreneur and business owner. So, here are a few which might be in your best interest to fill as soon as possible:

The Leader

This is you or maybe it’s not you. It depends on whether or not you feel you can lead your startup idea to greatness, or if you would prefer to give the reins to someone else. In a startup, you need to establish yourself as the natural leader and you may also need to convince everyone else about the viability of your business. After all, if you don’t believe in your dream then you will be very hard-pressed to get anyone else to do so either.

A successful startup needs a strong leader and CEO at its heart, so this is where you will need to cement yourself. If you don’t, then your startup could start off with a weaker than average footing as a result (or even total failure in some cases).

Directors

Other than your own leadership there needs to be a clear set of directors within your growing startup. A full set of dedicated, knowledgeable leaders is the best way you can boost your business in its early days and therefore you need a set of strong directors to back you up in this. People who know how to manage teams, know your specific industry inside out and ultimately share your specific dream.

This can be one or more people, but ultimately he/she/they need to be your right hand when it comes to running your business. Choosing your board of directors can be difficult, but ultimately it can be very rewarding for your business.

Sales

As a startup, there is one thing that you need to be doing above anything else: selling. In order to do this as effectively as possible, you need an all-around hustler on board. Someone who gets your business and therefore knows how to sell it well. This is the person you will charge with the responsibility of building revenue and driving your business forward.

Marketing

If your business is unknown then one of the key steps you need to take is changing that fact. Simply creating a business and putting it out there isn’t enough in the modern age, you need to make yourself stand out. Otherwise, no matter how good your product, there is a very real chance you will be overlooked. This is where a great marketing person needs to come into the picture.

Your marketer needs to be marketing savvy, but also have an understanding of your industry. They will be in charge of your website, your social media and the materials which you put forward to the world. Marketing is something which if your business is short of it then you will see the impact in terms of fewer sales and consumer awareness.

Newbies

Obviously, everyone in your business can’t be established and great at their jobs already. In some ways, it can pay to have a few less experienced people on staff. For one, you can obviously save money and pay them less, but for another, they can bring a lot of new ideas to your business. If innovation is how you want to base your startup then new blood is the best way to do it.

At the end of the day, your business can’t be made up of not only leaders and senior members of staff. It would not be feasible in the short term let alone long term. As, if everyone is on top then no one is. Hiring more junior members of staff also gives your startup the opportunity to grow its own identity. As you can train this staff in your culture, attitude and the exact way you want to run your business.

Overall, it is vital that you set up your startup for success from day one. And this means ensuring that you establish the right roles. You also need to ensure you have strong, ironclad, employee contracts which protect both you and your startup, as well as the employee themselves. You will need to invest in the services of corporate solicitors to ensure this, but you will undoubtedly thank yourself for it in the long term (as employer/employee lawsuits can be extremely messy).

No matter your vision you will need a team in place who can help to make it a reality. So, choose wisely and you will be setting your startup to great success from day one. Without these vital staff members, you may never be able to achieve the proper level of success that you desire.