Q. How do you show support
and get involved with the
culture?
You’ve got to recruit the
right kind of people. You
don’t always want to focus
on PLUs — people like us —
or people like me. Just having people who care about
culture is important, and then making it clear that I’m
focused on the fact that I
believe that good culture
will make for great client
satisfaction, and great client
satisfaction will yield to
great business results.
And then actually participating. You’ve got to show that
you’re not scared to look silly
or to make fun of yourself a
little bit, to be serious out
there but to also be fun. Some
executives think they always
have to be so serious for their
team or they’ll lose credibility,
but by breaking down a little
bit and mixing it up with the
team, we all have a little more
fun, we all trust each other
more, and they get to see the
real person.
That builds a sense of trust
and communication and team-work that makes for a high-culture, high-performance team.
You have to have the belief
that it’s going to add value,
because if you don’t believe
that, you won’t succeed at all.
Have some signs of results.
Any hard-nosed executive still
wants to see results, and culture is notoriously soft and difficult to measure.
I look for signs of that in our
place. When we throw these
events, do people show up or
not? Do people talk about it
later? Do I hear that everyone
had a good time? Do I sense
that there is high-value communication happening, not
just partying and drinking? I
hear stories.
Q. What are the benefits of a
successful culture?
It does have tangible business
benefits. Client problems are
getting solved faster … because
we have more communication
in the team. People feel more
energized to come to work, and
they’re happy about the kind of
work and the place.
HOW TO REACH: Covario Inc., (858) 397-1500 or www.covario.com
