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Contrary to popular belief, start-up work culture is more than cool offices with bean bags, pool tables, free coffee and Friday beers with the team.
Company culture plays a crucial role in shaping the growth and success of startups, because the environment is highly dynamic and far less hierarchical than most corporates. A strong brand can create a great competitive advantage for start-ups. Founders should be intentional, consistent, and flexible in their approach to building the desired culture within their companies.
The thing is , too few start-ups these days actively go into building sustainable cultures that will serve them in the future. Founders seem short-sighted and are focusing so much on ‘growth-at-all-costs’ for the sake of funding - that the fundamentals of transparency, ethics and responsibility towards customers, the community and ironically the investors themselves, is being lost.
How does creating good company culture affect start-ups?
1. Identity and Vision: It is the founder who sets the tone for the organisation's values, mission, and goals. A founder's leadership style often shapes the culture of the startup. Their values, behaviors, and decision-making practices influence how employees perceive and experience the work environment. A strong and well-defined culture can inspire founders and employees, align their efforts, and drive them towards a common purpose. In start-ups the founder's values become the company's values - so it is crucial to define these at the onset.
2. Innovation & creativity - Start-ups are constantly evolving, innovating and changing their products and strategies, so collaboration and working well in teams is CRUCIAL for them to be able to grow. A culture that values open communication, respect, and cooperation allows for employees to think differently and be creative . A positive workplace, that values diversity and inclusivity can bring together diverse perspectives and ideas and thereby foster innovation and originality.
3. Risk-taking: Start-ups need to constantly take risks and decisions need to be made fast. Founders need to consciously create a culture that encourages risk-taking, experimentation and learning from failures. Employees need to feel safe and comfortable to challenge existing structures, disagree with bosses and colleagues, try different ideas and test different methods. It is only in cultures that allow for this both in terms of policy and behaviour that grow rapidly and adapt quickly to changing ,market dynamics.
4. Attraction and Retention of Talent: Start-ups need good talent to survive the challenges and constant growth. A positive and inclusive company culture can attract top talent to join the startup. People do NOT stay in companies for the salary, nor for the ‘perks’. Most people stay because they identify with the culture - the values of the company and it’s people. They stay because they like their boss and the people they work with. Supporting different work styles, allowing for flexibility, promoting the overall wellness of employees and encouraging personal growth is what can attract and help founders retain top talent.
5. Productivity and Performance: There are hundreds of mental health studies that showcase why having a positive, happy workplace, that supports work-life balance is crucial to employee wellbeing. In start-ups, it is important for founders to set these fundamentals from day-1. They firstly need to value themselves and their own time and lead by example. They also need to create systems where people feel encouraged, motivated, valued and supported at work to feel and perform their best at work.
Building a sustainable culture requires can greatly benefit start-ups. Though it takes continuous effort and attention, however creating a strong, positive, effective and UNIQUE work culture is fundamental to start-ups growing from ZERO to ONE.
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