Corporate Culture: Have You Got It?

[00:00:18] Hello, everybody. Recovering from an unseasonably early heatwave in Toronto, I am one of your hosts, Scott. Hello, and I'm Andy coming to you from the United Kingdom, having returned from a very wet Paris this weekend.

[00:00:32] I have to think about that for a minute. This is the Tea and Timbits podcast, Global Perspectives on Business Development to Help You Prosper. We'll get into our topic in a moment. We're going to start talking about corporate culture.

[00:00:46] Andy, I think you had some reflections you wanted to share. I do. We're moving into a new series this week, aren't we? Yes. Well, in fact, this month, we're going to be focusing on an interesting area which I'm looking forward to getting into.

[00:01:00] But before I do, I actually have a story I wanted to share because it's revisiting a scenario from about six months ago. It was a company I was working with, a mid-sized maritime logistics company.

[00:01:16] And they were looking to expand into Asia and this was something that they had actually done. They had started the process.

[00:01:24] But what they'd done is they'd taken a lot of their European processes and procedures and basically just set up an office over there and trying to replicate it.

[00:01:37] And of course, part of the challenge that they faced was that they weren't getting an attraction. They weren't getting the interest. They weren't getting the success that they should have been having considering.

[00:01:48] This is a good medium-sized company that has a good reputation, does a good job but was just struggling to break the Asian market, which was a very good opportunity for them.

[00:02:01] And so when I got involved, what we did is we focused on essentially trying to get them to localize their business. So we did a period of market research. We customized the sales approach.

[00:02:17] We started building up some relationships with local potential partner organizations but also local representatives of their existing customer base within Europe and North America.

[00:02:29] And then we went through a period of training the team because of course they were hiring a mix of local and expat staff to launch across the Asian market. And they were not familiar with working in that area or with this particular company.

[00:02:48] So it was a bit of a package of solutions that we put together. The reason I wanted to talk about it today is that now we're six months on from that and they have managed to increase their sales and success in Asia.

[00:03:06] Having been there for about a year prior to I was doing all of this, they've increased their sales by 40%, which is quite a significant increase. And they're very happy about it. And they got in touch with me this week to let me know about that.

[00:03:19] And that's of course very good. They've secured some several high value contracts and high profile contracts in fact as they the term they used. And they're now starting to be seen as a credible player in the Asian market as well, which is really fantastic news.

[00:03:37] So the reason I wanted to share it is the importance of localization, of understanding your local market, the market that you're working in. Understanding the importance of respecting cultural differences and that you can't just pick up a business from North America and replicate it in Europe.

[00:03:57] You can't take a business from Europe and replicate it in Asia and so on and so on. It's very important to understand that local market, do your market research and build those local relationships before trying to launch if you want it to be a success.

[00:04:11] And I think just sort of excuse me the intention and the structure that they didn't sort of cowboy it sort of speak. They didn't think that it was just going to be a transplantable solution. So I love it.

[00:04:27] It also reminds me I need to follow up with you on another. That's right. Yeah, you sent me anyway. Very good. So getting into our topic for today this week this month, we're going to talk about corporate culture broadly.

[00:04:43] We've got some specific episodes that we're going to explore around that. I think today to sort of kick off that theme, we would talk more generally about the importance of corporate culture and what that means. And I think also how to do it.

[00:05:02] So what are you hoping that our listeners will take away from that conversation today?

[00:05:08] Well, I think in general actually the series, I think this is very important topic and I think now as we're in the summer holiday period is actually a good time to start thinking about those things if you're not doing it and making the necessary changes.

[00:05:24] So when people are coming back from holiday, often with a bit of fresh energy and a new approach to things that the organization is set up ready and focused on how to move into success in the rest of the year and moving forward beyond that.

[00:05:43] And also making sure that you're attracting the right talent. Yes. Supporting the right talent and that you're allowing the talent that you have to grow and succeed in the areas that they wish and that they need to.

[00:05:56] So I'm going to pick up on a point there to sort of make my first comment about this topic, which is you said to attract the right talent. And what you didn't say was actually to attract the best talent.

[00:06:10] Because I think in my opinion, what this is about is just being quite honest with yourself and your own organization about what your corporate culture is.

[00:06:24] I think and then and then being being clear about that and making sure that when you're attracting talent, you're attracting the right talent that fits that culture that you already have established. I think when corporate culture. I'm using air quotes for people who are watching this to.

[00:06:51] I think I think corporate culture is also sort of misunderstood. There's this expectation that it has to be about excitement and super fun and and and foosball tables and thirsty Thursdays and stuff and that's corporate culture.

[00:07:15] And when when we hire people at at at Flywheel at my business.

[00:07:22] The question comes up it's you know you never really bring it up but it's an it's often a question that the interviewee will ask when you say do you have any questions oh what it's like to work.

[00:07:32] And I see you know what it's pretty heads down serious kind of get to get your work done thing and we take a lot of pride in solving, you know tricky problems and

[00:07:43] and kind of geeking out on on how we're doing that and the solutions that we have and if you walk in here, you know on a quote unquote busy day. Everybody's got their headphones on and it's pretty quiet, you can hear pin drop.

[00:07:56] We're all chatting with each other virtually. And we all have a lot of fun doing that quietly in our own little lane and and recognizing that. And that's our corporate culture. And so I think that that some people go. Oh God that sounds awful, and some people go.

[00:08:16] Oh my God I would I just can't that's what I want. I want that I'm I can't believe you just said that. I think that as you said I mean it's a lot of the times.

[00:08:31] A culture isn't established and there is no authentic culture and it is replaced with, you know, fun and distractions and you know great coffee machines and all of the peripherals. And yet how do you then machine.

[00:08:49] These things are important, but those are things I mean it's important for people to be able to switch off in one way or another. But if you don't have a culture what happens when people are working from home.

[00:08:59] What happens when people are working remotely what happens when people are out in the field with customers.

[00:09:04] If you have an established corporate culture, then people behave in a certain way because they know what's expected of them and they know what they stand for they know what they're working towards and they know what they're supporting and they know that they will be supported.

[00:09:18] If they're taking a certain approach towards things because it matches with their corporate culture.

[00:09:23] It's very important again like like any of the processes and other things that we've talked about that these things are written down and are clearly communicated and repeated and understood by everybody in the organization and lived.

[00:09:36] Yes, lived. Yeah. Now I mean listen it's not to say that we don't have social events and some of that team camaraderie we're going off to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game.

[00:09:48] The team soon it will will often sort of go out for drinks after dinner after work or something like that I guess a little bit less so recent years but everybody's working from home.

[00:10:04] You know but that just that comes around organically because you like the people that you're working with and and it's not like our next corporate event shall be.

[00:10:16] I mean the reason we're going to the Jays game is because somebody a couple people on staff are going like hey that'd be kind of fun and then they sent me a message on teams and said, Hey, could we do this and I said here's my credit cards

[00:10:29] these go buy a block of tickets so it was because then you have a good corporate culture and you want to help your colleagues in a more social setting and kick back and have fun and relax and and enjoy that kind of that kind of time together.

[00:10:42] Yeah, those things support and reinforce that the underlying culture.

[00:10:48] And I think I think if you have a good culture then it keeps people loyal and it keeps people motivated and it keeps people wanting to spend time with their colleagues with their, you know, with their bosses with their employees because they're, you know, you're all working towards the same thing

[00:11:04] you all understand each other you know you feel like a family and it doesn't matter whether that's a small company or a big company if you got the right culture then you feel that you're part of something.

[00:11:13] So you just also brought up another point which I wanted to explore which is, I've just given a perspective from a small agency. Again air quotes 25 people. That's pretty small. But big company thousands of employees hundreds of employees.

[00:11:31] What does it mean from your perspective to have a corporate culture that is part of the fabric of the employee experience when it's that large. Well, it's even more important actually because Is it any different from what I just described?

[00:11:51] Oh no, not at all. Not in the slightest is exactly the same because this is this is the key so you know I've worked for some very large companies either as an employee or in-house consultant or whatever over the years and and this has been in

[00:12:09] In the good companies that I've done that with and I've been lucky to be in many of them is that the corporate culture is there and it doesn't matter whether you're visiting the office in Singapore or New York or London.

[00:12:22] You know that you're part of that same company because the culture is there the corporate culture is there and you can fit into that and you can move staff around within that company and people will want to stay there people will feel motivated they'll understand it

[00:12:35] they'll know they can talk to their colleagues anywhere in the world they know they can go and take a job in another office because they don't have to worry oh is it going to be okay is it going to be like this or is it going to be like that they know it's it's not just familiarity.

[00:12:48] It's the confidence and comfort that you've got this great place to work that it is a great place to work because of the fact that there is a solid established documented and well communicated and well understood corporate culture. And that culture can be.

[00:13:08] You know sometimes quite tough you know it's like. We all work hard we work for certain hours you know we always make sure that we achieve certain things we always communicate in a certain way with customers we always make sure that we don't do other things we always.

[00:13:22] Simple things that we always wear a shirt and a tie.

[00:13:25] One of the companies I worked with it was it was a rule that nobody would use the stairs in the building so long as the owner was still able to use the stairs and he worked on the top floor.

[00:13:37] So the elevator was only for guests and that was part of the corporate culture and it was like you just you just accept that if you're with a guest you can go in the elevator otherwise you don't block it up by yourself being lazy you take the stairs because the owner himself who's in his 90s can take the stairs every day to his office on the top floor so everybody else has to.

[00:13:55] Everybody wore a suit and a tie and those who are listening who know me know exactly which company I'm referring to. And I'll say again some people would probably interview there or take a look at that and go.

[00:14:07] Oh my god like completely right completely right yeah I'm I need my slippers on and and my hoodie maybe not in that so then there's also like sort of just industry norms as well. Yeah.

[00:14:22] The Canadian Google head office is on the same block that our offices in and I've been there several times and you know that's what came to mind when you just described that I mean you walk into that building in that office and you know you're in a Google.

[00:14:39] Okay in a Google office.

[00:14:42] It's it's fun there's there's there are all these little elements there's little nooks that you can go and work in and there's bag chairs and there's a there's a open cafeteria that everybody has access to and the seating is kind of unique and funky and for sure that attracts and generates and fosters the the Google culture.

[00:15:08] Which got me thinking. How do you do that when you don't have control over the physical space elevators know cafeterias and and curated interior designed office environments.

[00:15:26] Well I think again I mean when you've got that corporate culture so if we refer to this this company that I mentioned that has very hard and fast almost you know. Very old fashioned rules in a way.

[00:15:38] It worked because even when people have to then start working from home people still turn up on zoom calls wearing a suit and a shirt and a tie they still make sure that they're well presented they still make sure that they're representing that company brand in the right way they still feel proud to be there.

[00:15:55] To be part of something they still know that it doesn't matter whether they're dealing with colleagues or customers on the other side of the world or in there you know just down the road.

[00:16:03] They are all going to be treated the same way they're going to get the same experience and they themselves are going to personally be rewarded and respected in the same way as well.

[00:16:11] And I think that's the key is it's that mutual thing is that not only is expected from you but the you know you're going to be treated in a certain way as well that you know that company is going to look after you that they're going to.

[00:16:23] You know respect you and respect your opinions and you know if you've got a corporate culture that is as firm and as strict as the one I described.

[00:16:31] Ironically it's also a place that is very very open to people's ideas and contributions and being willing and able and quick to change.

[00:16:41] So from a from a business perspective yes the you know the peripherals are all very strict and very regimented almost military in a way now I've think about it but nonetheless the openness to change in the willingness and the flexibility to despite being a global leader in that particular industry

[00:17:00] able to change on a you know on a pinhead and just take a different direction this isn't working let's change it.

[00:17:06] Here's a good idea let's give it a go let's put it in a different department here throws the money at it see if it works right and I you know I really think that that's the that's the clever thing is that you've got to have that balance

[00:17:17] if you're if you're really really firm and strict in one way then you've got to be very flexible in another way and it doesn't work for some people you're completely right there were plenty of people who went in there went oh my god this awful place to work horrible horrible horrible and they just didn't work.

[00:17:30] I don't believe but then there's other people who go this is the best thing ever and no matter where they go afterwards they sort of find themselves drawn back to that type of thing because they miss that type of culture.

[00:17:42] Where they go somewhere else in that culture is something that attracts people and it is something that keeps people going it is something that keeps people motivated. I do think that in the virtual work from home world that we live in or the hybrid situation.

[00:17:57] Your case, you do actually have to structure some some interpersonal time it you can't just you know let everybody do their own thing all the time there's got to be more than just team meetings and and and perfunctory sort of calendar time

[00:18:18] there has to be collaboration and brainstorming and even some social time to allow the space for the people who enjoy that to to have that and you can even insist upon it if that is your corporate culture. So great. This stuff it's so important.

[00:18:38] And any sort of summary there from your perspective of what we've talked about and where we've tried to make some points. I think ultimately no matter what type of culture you go for whether it's very relaxed or very very rigid.

[00:18:53] It has to be an environment that people feel safe they feel welcome and it's something that you live by and that you commit to and that you know allows people to to be creative but also feel very committed to to your company into your brand

[00:19:07] whether you're a team of three or a team of 300,000 it doesn't matter it's just as important.

[00:19:14] Make make sure you know what it is make sure there's agreement on what your corporate culture this is a new endeavor for you don't just kind of do top down like somebody at the.

[00:19:22] You know one person or even your HR department dictated like obviously I think those are obvious mistakes but great conversation looking forward to the next topic in our series here and always always a pleasure Andy.

[00:19:35] If anybody wants to get in touch with us go to T and Timbits calm you'll find all kinds of links to subscribe and like and share and comment and so on and so forth. Thank you everybody see on the next one.