Have you ever lived with a roommate who has a terrible attitude? Or worked with someone who was constantly sulking at work? Or ever had a boss who was just an unbelievable tyrant?
If you’ve experienced any one of these things, you know first-hand that the failure to find a common ethos amongst people with who you interact on a daily basis can lead to less than acceptable situations. It can be the difference between a happy and approachable person and a miserable and lethargic individual.
Much in keeping with that ideology, the culture of any company can then give rise to motivated or demotivated employees. The need for thriving company culture is particularly important when one talks about start-ups! However, there are some challenges that leaders of start-ups can face when scaling culture in their organizations.
Here’s our take on three key challenges that plague start-up leaders when it comes to creating an atmosphere that can invigorate a workforce instead of tiring it out!
Failing to Define Company Culture – Often, start-up leaders view company culture as a secondary, if not tertiary element of their organization. This is a negligent approach to setting up a company culture for your start-up. One cannot expect a positive culture to simply manifest as the company grows. Company culture is a key driver of success only if leaders take the time and effort to curate a company culture that works for their employees and processes. Without that effort and interest from leaders, company culture is merely an unused tool, often causing a poor environment to seep into the workspace.
Failing to Recognise Company Culture as a Motivator – Often, start-ups fail to account for the fact that employees each come with their own personal goals, which cannot be overlooked by leaders in lieu of pursuing the overall goals of their company. It is of utmost importance that employees feel empowered enough to constructively critique company culture and expect changes. Building a company culture where employees feel heard, appreciated, and valued can ensure that leaders of start-ups have a truly driven workforce.
Failing to Reward Failure – Initially, everyone in a startup seems to be willing to fail and learn. But as the company begins to grow (older/ in size of the team/ market-share etc.), there creeps in a fear of failure, causing the company to stop innovating and stop giving heed to creative ideas. This can severely impede the morale, growth, and motivation of employees, and ultimately affect the organization’s growth. If you are starting out by setting a company culture that encourages innovation, then be ready for some failures along the way. In the long run, an innovation-driven staff will still garner more success than an unimaginative and mundane workforce.
Company culture can be a propeller or a hindrance based on how start-up leaders choose to approach it – so, investing some time and effort toward manifesting a solid company culture can make your company really stand out in an otherwise competitive marketplace.