42. Changing a Company's Culture

The BizLibrary Podcast

This week, we welcome Jim Gilkey, the Director of Membership Development at trueU, to discuss changing a company culture.
Jim started by defining a company culture: "the shared beliefs or attitudes that drive the behaviors within an organization."
The caveat to this concept is that culture can very easily become accidental, meaning a culture that arises without the input or influence from your company's leadership.
To create or change a culture, Jim recommends by starting with conversation: what are people talking about? What's on the minds of your employees? What challenges are they facing, and how do they overcome them?
The answer to these questions can tell you a lot about your current company culture. The processes and concerns are the pulse of your organization, and are at the center of your culture.
Once you've established what your culture is, it's worthwhile to understand how you can better influence it.
Jim mentions a client of trueU called Morales Group, a company that values service to others. To demonstrate this value, Morales Group offered lego bricks to employees who demonstrated and embodied their core values.
When enough bricks were collected, they were built into a model of a house, and a full-scale version of the house was then built in poverty-stricken areas of Mexico.
Jim tells us that having leadership emphasize your core values is absolutely crucial. For instance, if your company values learning, it's important for leaders to show this: for instance, offer a company-wide initiative that tells employees that it's important that they read a particular book.
This kind of emphasis on company culture can yield great results, and that's a great way to get leadership on board.
When you're finished listening to this week's episode about company culture, be sure to listen to our free, on-demand webinar called "Change Your Culture, Change Your Results."
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