Cultural Communication & Education » Family Owned Businesses http://www.conversas.org Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:24:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 How to Protect the Culture of Your Company http://www.conversas.org/how-to-protect-the-culture-of-your-company-2 http://www.conversas.org/how-to-protect-the-culture-of-your-company-2#comments Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:37:22 +0000 Admin http://www.conversas.org/?p=234 Company cultures are like church: no one wants it to change. Recently we have seen instances where family-owned businesses have brought in new executives to help grow the business. These executives professed a love of the “old” culture from the “cut-throat” culture of the corporate environment from whence they came. ·  Cultures are not Self-Sustaining. Cultures can be adapted; modified; changed and dismissed by new executives with different cultures. Company cultures must be maintained, practiced and exhibited by leaders.

·  Cultures are not Passive. Company cultures that last are directed to last. ·  Change is Constant. ·  Cultures Must be Aligned. Cultures must be supported by additional communications. ·  Cultures Require Constant Feedback.

]]> http://www.conversas.org/how-to-protect-the-culture-of-your-company-2/feed 0 How to Protect the Culture of Your Company http://www.conversas.org/how-to-protect-the-culture-of-your-company http://www.conversas.org/how-to-protect-the-culture-of-your-company#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:06:41 +0000 Admin http://www.conversas.org/how-to-protect-the-culture-of-your-company By Darrell L. Browning

Company cultures are like church: no one wants it to change. That’s not a bad thing, either–especially when you operate a family-owned business built upon time-honored traditional values. Or perhaps your business was built on delivering exceptional, personalized service which you have successfully branded into your marketing campaign. But along with growth come problems.

Recently we have seen instances where family-owned businesses have brought in new executives to help grow the business. These executives professed a love of the “old” culture from the “cut-throat” culture of the corporate environment from whence they came. They also had skills which the family-owned business needed to make the business grow. And yet a curious thing happened. These same executives began to exhibit the exact behavior they insisted they loathed so much in their old business environments. How come? To find out why this occurs–and to stop this kind of behavior from distilling or destroying the very culture that built your business–consider the following:

·  Cultures are not Self-Sustaining. Cultures can be adapted; modified; changed and dismissed by new executives with different cultures. Company cultures must be maintained, practiced and exhibited by leaders.

·  Cultures are not Passive. Company cultures that last are directed to last. In other words, if it’s important, you have to say so–loudly–and back it up.

·  Change is Constant. Cultures are under constant fire brought on by the necessity to respond with new and sometimes unique ways to the business at hand. Realizing this will help you devise communication strategies to reinforce your company culture as necessary.

·  Cultures Must be Aligned. Cultures must be supported by additional communications. Cultures should be closely aligned with Vision, Commitment, Core Values and Mission.

·  Cultures Require Constant Feedback. NASA invented the term feedback: it describes what they did to correct a missile or craft that had gone off-course to get it back on track. Maintaining positive company cultures works no differently: if those executives begin aiming missiles where you don’t want them to go, provide feedback to get them back on course.

Keep in mind that cultures take a long time–some experts say seven years–to change. This may work in your favor if you are seeking to preserve a culture yet against you when you are trying to implement organizational change.

In the meantime, remind those executives who still think they are at their previous company that you do things differently–and then explain why. Be sure to point out the value of your culture to the business and how it relates to everything you hope to accomplish.

For more information see http://www.browninglafrankie.com.

 

©BrowningLaFrankie 2007




By: Darrell L. Browning

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