Company culture is the key to success. It’s the reason why some organisations fail while others flourish. Our company culture is what drives our product, services, staff, and customers: and it’s driven from the word go.
It’s not enough to just decide the values and principles that set the tone of our culture, we must embody them in everything we do. From hiring to growing, to delivering. So, when we’re looking to cultivate a positive company culture, where do we start?
Building the foundations of company culture
Whether you’re a new organization or an established company, identifying your values is the first step in building the foundations of your ideal company culture.
Think of it as your organization's personality. What do you want it to represent? If people were to talk about your brand, what should they be saying? And what goals do you have for the future of your business?
Perhaps you strive to build strong partnerships with those using your product or service, and to achieve this you understand the importance of trust in your brand. You might then consider honesty as a value. It would mean embracing transparency both internally and externally within your organisation, enabling staff and clients to feel trusted by what you say and do. Therefore, becoming more likely to form a strong, loyal bond with your business.
As is clear with this example, to facilitate this honesty you need people who not only value this trait but are open and willing to be honest too, with their opinions, successes, failures, and more.
Harnessing the power of recruitment
Once we have our values set, we then need to grow a pool of people who can make them a reality.
When recruiting, it’s easy to think: ‘I need X, with X experience and X education’, but perhaps what’s more important when it comes to building a positive company culture is examining whether the perfect candidate on paper is the perfect fit for our organisation.
You see, knowledge can be taught, and skills developed, but our values represent who we are and what we believe in. If our people have similar principles to us, they’re more likely to be satisfied in their job and be able to embody the why of our business.
So, when looking to cultivate that positive company culture, we need to ensure we bring the right people in. And once we have a base of staff who embody our values, like honesty, they will pave the way for new co-workers with similar ideals – therefore, growing and developing our culture.
Recognise the importance of people
We’ve established that our people are of the utmost importance to the development of our company culture, and that the sooner we realise this, the better.
They are the ones that understand and believe the why of our business: why this product solves X problem, why customers need x service, why x can change the way people communicate, or why the world is missing x.
And this passion is what ignites our organisation.
Therefore, once we have identified our values and found the perfect candidates to drive the company forward, we must put time and effort into continuously developing and improving our company culture. Failure to do this will result in the formation cracks in our company culture and our talent will eventually seek an organisation that better fits their values.
To avoid this, we must take an agile approach to company culture; recognising that expectations and priorities change and reviewing what steps we need to take to align these. Regularly reviewing the key aspects of our culture is essential, as is reaching out for feedback on what we can do better.
Trust, freedom, and responsibility at TOPdesk
Building and nurturing a positive company culture has been key to the success of TOPdesk. What began with two employees is now a business operating with 16 different branches worldwide.
It’s not the only IT Service Management solution on the market, but what allowed TOPdesk to grow and develop is the mentality that this product is built to help organisations: help our easily forgotten about IT professionals to better manage their day-to-day and help like-minded professionals to reach their full potential and feel passionate about their work.
This has been embodied by three words: trust, freedom, and responsibility. These statements can be interpreted in many ways, and that’s the beauty of company culture. But their power rings true thanks to the implementation of these values in multiple different countries, no matter their language or way of life, all of which can be recognised as TOPdesk.
And the reason for this? The people. TOPdesk arrived in the UK over 15 years ago and the culture was set from day one in both our London and Manchester offices. From the first hires to the newbies of today, finding people who will embrace and thrive with trust, freedom, and responsibility has been our top priority.
Cultivating a positive company culture
The sooner we realise that our people are key to our culture, the sooner we can reap the benefits that a positive company culture bestows.
We must begin by identifying what our organisation stands for and use this to hire people that will truly embrace who we are and what we do. Then, we need to recognise the importance of agility; allowing our culture to change and develop over time based on new values and priorities. This is what it means to cultivate a positive company culture.