Your culture will be your catalyst to outperform the competition and provide the type of service that creates loyalty. It’s what takes you from success to significance in the eyes of your customers. For the past four weeks, we have been taking a look at the five mistakes that will kill your culture and today we will discuss the fifth and final mistake that will certainly kill your culture – Not Investing in Your Culture. To review, the five mistakes are:
- Hire For the Wrong Reasons
- Focus on Tasks and Not Purpose
- Preach Values That You Don’t Live
- Incentivize the Wrong Activities
- Not Investing in Your Culture
To read the previous posts – click here.
In an interview with Jim Crystal, the CEO of Revelry Agency, a PR and online digital presence company, he said he sees too many leaders now that think get-togethers, retreats, and any other activities outside of the workplace are a waste of time.
But Jim firmly believes that the extra events are what cement your culture.
Taking time to create an atmosphere that develops relationships, builds trust, and strengthens the team is invaluable to fashioning the environment you desire.
Jim loves Sun Valley, Idaho. It’s a beautiful destination resort town, with fun activities both in the winter and the summer. Jim always makes it a point to take his entire team once a year to Sun Valley to spend a few days together. There are business meetings and seminars, but there’s also plenty of time left to relax and enjoy one another while doing everything from skiing to fishing to bike riding to hiking to horseback riding to golfing. What does this accomplish? If you look at the people who work at Revelry Agency, most of them have been there a very long time. The continuity is pretty remarkable, and I think a lot of it has to with the Sun Valley getaways and all the other investments Jim has made in creating a culture people don’t want to leave.
In a bottom-line world, it’s easy for leaders to neglect investing in their culture. Expenditures for team-building events, especially those outside the office, can be easily dismissed as not absolutely needed, so therefore put off, sometimes forever. Plus, everyone’s busy and it takes time, energy and effort to put together retreats, activities, banquets, picnics and other events that are thoughtful, meaningful, and designed to produce the desired results. They don’t just happen.
But forgetting to prioritize people over processes is never a good idea. If we truly want a culture of committed and engaged individuals, then we need to be willing to do everything possible to create an environment that puts people first. The positive results will follow.