Ep. 131- Culture Conversations: How to Create and Foster a Company Culture
| By Jessica Miller-Merrell | Podcast, Work
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We’ve talked recently about finding meaning at work with a previous podcast episode with Danny Gutknecht. I wanted to focus not just on meaning but also dive a bit more into company cultures and talk about a number of different organizations with great cultures that I believe we can learn from.
Episode 131: Culture Conversations: How to Create and Foster a Company Culture with Kim Gorsuch (@kimgorsuch99)
On this episode of the Workology Podcast I talk with Kim Gorsuch. Kim is the founder and CEO of Weeva. She is also the author of a new book The Culture Book: When Culture Clicks. The Culture Book spotlights sixteen different companies like Netflix, Zappos, Southwest, Buffer, and YouEarnedIt on what makes for a great culture. The book provides insights into their processes whether organic or intentional and how they view, create, and cultivate company culture.
When I asked Kim about how she views culture, she told me that culture is the intangible spirit of a company, and greatly impacts its ability to succeed. She shared that culture finds it in the behaviors and norms of a company, as well as it’s values and purpose. In her research writing the book, she learned that every culture is unique – each person in the company adds to subtracts from the whole.
Kim’s interest in culture stems from her work at Lending Tree as well as other fast-growing technology companies. She was employee number 100 at Lending Tree and saw first hand how great cultures can support organizations helping them to scale quickly. Lending Tree which was founded in 2008 is now publically traded on the NASDAQ.
Measuring the Impact of Culture in the Workplace
Kim shared a number of stories including Buffer’s commitment to radical transparency which includes full disclosure about company financials as well as all employee salary information. I asked Kim how companies like Buffer, Netflix, and others are measuring the bottom line impact their cultures have on the organization. I wanted to know if these companies or don’t they tie their financial success to their culture? Interestingly enough Netflix measures the impact of their culture based on if they hit business targets. I also wondered if companies measured the impact of culture by looking at turnover.
Culture Is Personal Even at Work
Our jobs in HR and recruiting are quickly becoming involved in helping people see the authentic stories that align with their organization. Culture is personal and its important for companies to be very deliberate in sharing what makes their companies unique. We want to retain and attract the right people that our culture resonates with and keeps them motivating and performing at their best. I hope you enjoy my interview with Kim.
Connect with Kim Gorsuch on LinkedIn. You can also pre-order her book, The Culture Book: When Culture Clicks by clicking here.
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- Ep. 130: Finding Meaning at Work ~ podcast
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The culture of the company is the face of the company without a pleasant culture a company growth cannot be achieved. It will result in more exit interviews and fewer joinings. Ultimately the talented workforce will no longer be the part of that organization. However, it is important for both the employers and employees to build the clear communication channels. Human Resource plays an important part in bringing the required culture into the organization.