It’s that time of the year again: the time where Founders and CEOs start putting pen to paper on their goals and initiatives for the next year. As cultural experts, we often get asked questions on how to keep a thriving culture in check when working in your strategic planning.
So, in this article, our Founder, CEO, and Cultural Expert, Therese Gedda, is addressing three essential questions that will help impact-driven Leaders keep their 2022 planning deeply aligned with their key priorities and ready to kickstart a thriving year.
1. What are the keys to creating a strategic plan that enhances your culture?
There are multiple layers to this question.
One layer of it is, as we always say: culture comes first. Culture is the blueprint. It is the foundation upon which you build your strategic plan. Your culture will significantly impact your strategic direction and how you will get there. That’s why the most efficient and secure way of approaching this is by working on your strategic plan in tandem with your cultural plan for the year.
On a different layer, if you are in the process of doing your strategic planning for 2022, we have a very valuable gift for you. We know that, as a Founder and Leader, you have a million different things on your plate. And, even when we have our purpose as our North Star, it can be easy to lose track of what are the most impactful initiatives we should be prioritizing and which ones are not exactly the best use of our resources. The Achievement Template will help you attain a clear sight of the road ahead, and craft a strategic plan in deep alignment with your core values. Click here to download it complementary.
2. What are the telltale signs that your culture needs assessment?
There are many different situations that evidence the need to work with a company’s culture. Some of the most common are:
- You have a challenge retaining your top talent.
- You have raised your next round of funding, and you need to scale up all aspects of your company.
- You are experiencing internal pressure. It is becoming harder to thrive as a Founder and Leader. Things that used to work are not working anymore.
- You are experiencing external pressure and even a hint of overwhelm. You don’t feel fully supported by your board or your investors.
- You realize that toxicity is having an impact on your company’s performance and holding you back in your achievements.
However, we believe it is necessary to flip the question around.
Culture impacts everything. If your workplace makes you feel that you don’t really belong there, or you’re hitting roadblock after roadblock; or alternatively, if you feel like this is the most amazing place ever, you feel seen, appreciated, and that you’re part of something bigger, that will have a very significant impact on the way you show up every day — whether it is virtually or in-person. Your people’s performance, well-being, sense of belonging, and sense of achievement are largely determined by your culture on a daily basis.
Prioritizing culture as early as possible will allow you to attract and keep top talent who believe in what you believe in. It will enable you to bring your extraordinary ideas to life, serve your dream customers with products and services that really help them, and leave a footprint in the marketplace at large.
So, the question we want to extend to you is: can you really afford not to prioritize investing in your culture?
3. What are some signs that your culture is thriving?
When things are going well, it can be easy to overlook the opportunity cost of not investing in your culture. So, a way of acknowledging the significance of a thriving culture is by taking a look at how mediocre cultures feel and perform.
As reported by Gallup, a bad hire could cost a company up to two times their annual salary. In numbers: for a 100-person company providing an average salary of $60,000, the cost of turnover could range from $750,000 to $3 million.
When you have a thriving culture and you are successfully recruiting for an exceptional cultural fit, you won’t have to deal with the costs of having to replace talent on a regular basis. You won’t have to worry about damage control. You won’t have toxic elements weighing down the entire company and setting you back on your goals.
A thriving culture is a space for empowerment and championing of potential and excellence; it attracts people who share your values, and who are just as excited as you to make your vision come to life.
Unlock Your Full Potential
The opportunity cost of not investing in your culture as early as possible is simply too high. Imagine showing up to work every day in an environment buzzing with excitement, ideas, and deep commitment to the values that matter to you the most. A thriving culture unlocks unlimited possibilities to focus on your core purpose and work towards outstanding achievements.
Are you ready to set your company up for a thriving 2022? We are here to help.
Do you have a question you would like to see answered from a cultural perspective? Share it with us through LinkedIn or email! We might be picking some for our next Q&A.
Ready to Thrive?
High Achievers outperform the average worker by 10% in productivity, 20% in sales, and 30% in profitability
We have worked with 1000+ founders and CEOs, and we have experienced first-hand how culture has an impact on everything, from interactions between team members to talent attraction and retention; from customer relationships and profitability to the speed of innovation and your ability to propel revolutionary initiatives that will wow your Dream Persona and leave a print in the history of your industry.
We have built proprietary frameworks proven to deliver transformative change in fast-growing companies. Below is a selection of our custom-designed projects on culture, leadership, and growth that can span from two weeks to a year depending on goals and needs:
Codifying Culture is designed to create a strong cultural foundation to be used for effective leadership initiatives, recruitment, and accountability.
Recruiting on Cultural Fit is a scalable and methodical recruitment model focused on mindset, cultural and value alignment.
Scaling a High Achiever Culture is designed to keep the best people, your High Achievers, performing and thriving.
Strategic Direction and Growth is often delivered as an off-site, followed by an executive coaching program for your management team.
Bespoke Programs are fully customized initiatives that span extensive cultural transformations as well as targeted projects covering culture, leadership, commercialization, recruitment, training, and growth.
