A well-defined, genuine company culture is now, more than ever, a ‘must have’ for business owners. With companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook crowding news headlines with casual dress code policies, workspaces resembling college dorm rooms, and seemingly ridiculous hiring and firing initiatives, what’s a small business to do?

Get creative.

Taking the time to sit down and mindfully mature your company culture is probably not a top priority as a business owner, but business cannot grow without culture. In the end, companies who are cognizant about nurturing their culture – and getting it right – tend to do better in their business.

So go for it. Define your values, have a plan and hire to those things to which you have control.

YOUR WHY

Defining your values –along with the rest of your business decisions– should start with WHY. Defining, understanding and building upon your WHY is how your culture will grow and prosper.

Beyond the employee perks and latest efforts to boost morale, it ultimately boils down to who you are, what your team does, and why you do what you do. You must establish WHY you do what you do in order to get your company culture moving in the right direction, but your values are your foundation – so define them early. As your company begins to grow, or your brand begins to change, your culture may evolve and move in different directions, but your company values should stay true.

Now you need to get everyone on board.

ALIGN YOUR TEAM

Sadly, finding the ‘perfect’ people takes two things that are hard to come by as an entrepreneur: time and patience.

Think of culture as a company’s personality. Employees need to work well with that personality type and believe in the who, the what, and the why of that persona in order for your team to succeed.

But even though acquiring the perfect people is damn near impossible, don’t give up.

You will soon realize – and learn to accept – that not everything can be taught. You can teach skills, but you cannot teach values or attitude. A candidate may harness every skill you are looking for to the T, but if they are not a cultural fit, they will – in time – toss a cog in your machine and throw your business off track. This may mean that you have to pass on some talented individuals during your hiring process– but your business will benefit in the long run.

LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE

Growing your culture is a leadership issue. The million dollar question is, which leaders are responsible for this?

The goal is to find the right combination of personalities and beliefs that ultimately align with your business values and goals. Your employees need to be passionate about the mission you strive to achieve, and those team members – especially leaders – should be making decisions every day based on the values your company believes.

At Gerber we have numerous leaders within our team – myself being one of them – because that is what works for us. No matter what you make, or what service you sell, it’s inspiring all your leaders to lead that drives cultural success. If you learn how to inspire your leaders to lead, you can make or do anything.

And there you have it.

While there are a laundry list of items that can influence your culture – from your ego, to your client-base, or even a single individual within your team – the fact is, without a conscious approach taking control of your company culture, your structure can get out of control and eventually even sink your ship.