How do you establish a united Company Vision and Culture?

Business owners, as a general rule, are very passionate about their companies and know exactly what their vision is for the future. They also want a culture that suits their business well. The problem is, with the daily grind, this often isn’t conveyed in full (or at all) to the employees. Not doing this can create dissent within, reduce productivity, jeopardize retention, decrease morale and make things (even simple things) much more difficult than necessary.

I’ll give you an example. Let’s say your vision is to open a new location every two years. In order to do that, you must get your current location to operate autonomously without daily management by you. However, as you begin to step away from daily tasks and focus more time on opening your next place, some employees might resent the fact that you aren’t “working” much. If you go about your tasks with an “I don’t care what they think” mentality, you’re setting yourself and your employees up for failure. It’s hard to achieve the culture you’re aiming for if everyone’s vision isn’t aligned.

The solution for something this simple is COMMUNICATION, but it’s not always that easy. What you really need is “buy-in” from the whole organization. If they believe in the vision and feel like they’re an integral part of it, the culture will most likely fall in line. How do you make that happen? I’ll give you three basic steps:

1. Get all of your executives (or key employees) on the same page. Welcome their input, discuss options with them, let them know that their opinions are valued and heard.
2. Communicate clearly with the whole team. This doesn’t mean you should just send an email. Talk to them and be willing to address questions and concerns. A vision and culture are easy to state, but “buy-in” must be cultivated.
3. During the process, celebrate small victories with the team that get you closer to your ultimate goal. Sometimes progress gets overlooked if you aren’t careful, make sure that doesn’t happen so the finish line gets closer for everyone.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but it should give you a basis to start a plan. Just like every other aspect of your business, you should plan to execute and execute to achieve!