In early August, company culture authority Dr. David Vik held a roundtable discussion with a gathering of startup executives. During the session, Dr. Vik shared his insight into what it takes to create a successful culture – his methodology was previously proven successful at Zappos during its rise to eCommerce fame. So what does it take for companies today to create, foster and grow their own company cultures to mirror a world-class organization? We share 5 of Dr. Vik’s culture secrets below:
Vision
What it is: Vision expresses the focus of what your company does or wants to become.
Why it matters: Vision is the guiding principle that drives your business. This is what you and your team aspires to achieve every day.
Questions to ask yourself: What is your vision? Is it big enough? Is it about more than making money?
Purpose
What it is: Purpose is why you do what you do. If it’s clear, authentic and powerful, it will generate excitement and passion for your business.
Why it matters: Purpose attracts people, partners, employees and customers. Purpose is one of the primary reasons why employees will choose your company over others.
Questions to ask yourself: What is your purpose? How does it affect your employees and your customers?
Business Model
What it is: On the surface, your business model describes how your company creates, delivers, and captures value.
Why it matters: A successful business model incorporates your vision and purpose and demonstrates value to your employees. It helps your employees understand their value, and creates an experience for your customers.
Questions to ask yourself: Can you explain your business model from end to end? Can your employees? Are you customer-centric?
Unique Factors/Wow Factors
What it is: Unique factors make you special. Wow factors elicit positive emotions and these are experiences that become encoded memories.
Why it matters: Unique/Wow factors are how you build trust and repeat customers. Deliver the Unique/Wow Factors to your employees first. Then they will deliver it to your customers.
Get this right and the future is yours.
Questions to ask yourself: What you can do that others don’t or can’t do? Will it attract employees who want to create it and customers who want to buy it?
Values
What it is: Values let people know what you are about. Values are what we hold close to us and what we consider important.
Why it matters: Values shape behavior and mindset. Values empower your people at the individual and corporate level.
Questions to ask yourself: What are your core values? Are they aligned with your vision and purpose?
Once you have distilled these 5 important factors, now is the time to start implementing. As you progress, continually observe changes that you see to your business and team. Exciting things can happen when leadership starts to proactively steer culture toward benefiting your employees and customers.