HR Building Block #2: Building Company Culture As You Scale

Startup HR

Mar 15

In the 2nd of our series of articles on HR Building Blocks for scaling startups, we tackle one of the most talked-about topics, culture!

What differentiates two companies of similar size and products? Why does one attract and retain top talent and loyal customers, while another constantly struggles with high staff turnover?

The answer often boils down to culture.

“Culture” has become a buzzword not just in human resources, but in branding today. And it is not hard to see why.

Put simply, culture is your company’s fingerprint, DNA, and very soul. It gives a brand relevance and resonance beyond mere size, product or profit ever could.

No two companies have the same culture. After all, it is created by a confluence of dynamic factors such as organizational values, company’s mission, desired behaviors, brand tradition,, work atmosphere, as well as the people within the company, from C-suite leaders to frontline employees.

The Power Of Culture

A strong culture gives your company a sense of identity, and bonds diverse teams with a sense of purpose. It may also help you win the recruiting war against brands with much bigger budgets and more clout.

“Establishing good company culture with a strong value system has enabled us to pull in a constant stream of talent to join us,” shares Terence Yow, founder, and managing director of Enviably Me, which distributes the popular Brazilian jelly shoe Melissa and Australian footwear brand Emu Australia in Singapore.

Indeed, according to a Grant Thornton LLP and Oxford Economics report “Return on Culture”, almost half of the employees would leave their jobs for a lower-paying job in exchange for better organizational culture.

The same study also shows that executives who say that their culture is extremely healthy are 1.5 times more likely to report average revenue growth of more than 15 percent over three years. After all, a strong culture is known to boost staff’s emotional well-being, guide decision-making, and reduce internal politics.

Nailing The Culture Narrative

Unfortunately, culture is often neglected or left to chance, notes ConnectOne’s Joanna Yeoh. And that is one of the most common mistakes start-ups make.

Unfortunately, culture is often neglected or left to chance, notes ConnectOne’s Joanna Yeoh. And that is one of the most common mistakes start-ups make.

“The moment you bring a group of people together, there will be culture. So it’s up to the founder to set the tone,” she stresses.

“The first thing when defining culture is to have a clear sense of mission: What is the problem you are trying to solve and what is your start-ups’ sense of purpose? Once you have a clear mission statement, it will help you define the values you want to live by,” she explains.

Are you an eco-conscious or vegan brand? Then perhaps your culture should be ethic-driven and compassionate. Are you a high-tech company? Then perhaps your culture should be dynamic, cutting-edge, and innovative.

Often, culture and values can also relate to internal processes and codes of behaviors. Grab for instance came up with the YPIMP. Pronounced as “Why-PIM” and short for “your problem is my problem”, it reflects the very strong focus on teamwork, across different individuals and departments.

Though culture has many unspoken elements, it is nonetheless important to define it clearly.

“When an entrepreneur starts out in the early years, we literally start with ourselves, before adding one, two, and then three staff. Company culture and values may not be articulated in the early years. It starts organically as you bring in people who share some common values with you,” says Terence.

“However, after you have built a core team, it is important to define this unspoken magical bond you have. When Enviably Me had six people in our headquarters and 20 frontline staff, we sat down and came up with six values which we put up on the wall. They are mutual respect, doing the right thing, putting teamwork first, always giving our best, being customer-focused, and promises made promises kept,” he shares.

In addition, Joanna points out that it is important to define value statements clearly. Poorly defined and sweeping statements such as “it is ok to make mistakes” can create confusion when it comes to performance appraisals for instance. A good practice is to create a culture deck - a series of phrases, images, and examples to define and guide behavior within the organization.

Integrating and Preserving Culture

Given how important culture is, it should be integrated into on-boarding, training, management practices, and performance appraisals.

Leaders may consider periodically conducting culture audits to find out how well employees understand the corporate culture and brand values. They should give recognition to those who exemplify these important values and call out non-adherence.

Culture should also influence hiring policy. As businesses grow rapidly, founders and decision-makers may hire candidates for their credentials, neglecting to check if they are the right culture fit. This often develops into a problem down the road.

“A small minority of staff took our people-centric culture for granted. Despite our best efforts, they were not worth the time, effort, and money we spent to try to steer them and correct key areas we were not satisfied with. In such cases, it is important to give the staff a reasonable time frame to change or let them go. Otherwise, this might put your value system at risk, and erode the credibility and culture of your company,” says Terence.

Terence stresses that the most powerful way to reinforce culture is for leaders to walk the talk. “We put our values up on the wall and stationery as reminders, but the most important thing is that the core team and I model and reinforce it ourselves in big and little ways,” he says.

Beyond that, Terence stresses that the most powerful way to reinforce culture is for leaders to walk the talk. “We put our values up on the wall and stationery as reminders, but the most important thing is that the core team and I model and reinforce it ourselves in big and little ways,” he says.

For instance, the people-centric culture at Enviably Me means that its managing director and leaders schedule at least one hour of one-on-one face time for their direct reports with no fixed agenda. This allows the leaders to bond with their staff and understand their challenges, needs, and aspirations.

The people-centric culture at Enviably Me means that its managing director and leaders schedule at least one hour of one-on-one face time for their direct reports with no fixed agenda. This allows the leaders to bond with their staff and understand their challenges, needs, and aspirations.

The eco-friendly footwear company also runs a shoe swap program where customers may trade shoes for discount vouchers from Melissa. These shoes are sent to the disadvantaged around the world via the Soles4Souls program.

“We take our value statement of being customer-focused in a broader sense. We think of customers as not just the people who buy our shoes, but also the broader community we exist in. Being customer-focused means giving back to this community as well,” he shares.

Indeed, as Enviably Me and many successful companies have shown, having a strong company culture that aligns with your brand purpose creates a greater sense of authenticity for staff and customers.

More than any big-budget advertisement or marketing strategy, this inside-out approach to company building and branding makes your team and customers feel like they are part of something bigger - a vision, goal, or way of life. The synergy and loyalty it inspires is what gives your company true longevity and resonance.