Culture is fast becoming a globally recognised trend among innovative companies that are adapting to demanding times. In 2014, Merriam Webster named it as the word of the year. It is also a cornerstone that mega companies such as Google and Zappos are taking very seriously.
According to Deloitte's 2014 Core Beliefs & Culture Survey, focusing on a culture of purpose over profits builds business confidence and drives investment. Among South African companies that support this trend are Yuppiechef, Virgin Active and Pentravel.
Pentravel has based its focus on culture and its people and by doing so, it has grown by 734% in five years. CEO, Sean Hough, says, "It cannot be engineered; its whole point is to be real and credible. Cobbling company culture together for some team rah-rah is not going to work. Instead, it is central to a company's vision, mission and sustainability."
HR specialist from HRCentrix Kate Shed agrees, "Culture is the deeply complex social system of a company. While often spoken about it is still misunderstood and undervalued. The most important thing is the alignment between business objectives, purpose and culture. To achieve this, companies need to understand each of these elements intimately and the dynamics between them."
Pentravel radically recovered from a financial nose-dive in 2008/9 when the recession hit many industries, coming back strong with its high growth. It attributes this to the value it places on culture and investing in people before profit. Hough shares these tips.
Cultural strengthening tips
- Get the culture right and the business follows: By investing in culture - not as a strategy but as a love for what we do - we enjoy a 61 percent repeat and referral business and a 91 percent customer satisfaction on Hello Peter. We defined our purpose as 'Delivering Sunshine'; every Pentravel employee is tasked to promote and grow this value and culture. In essence this means we ensure we always put the customer and our people first - and make them happy all the way from A to B and back again.
- Develop shared values; then stick to them: Another key piece of the culture puzzle is collaboratively developing a company's values, sharing them across the business and then sticking vehemently to them. Therefore, while we are a travel business at heart, our core value is to create the very best customer experience - without the hard sell. We also want to make people happy. While away on a Bosberaad a few years ago we harnessed who and what we are; this has been rolled-out across the business and I do believe is what our customers have come to know us for. They are after all our core truths.
- People come first - before customers, shareholders and profit: It surprises me how few companies really take care of and give attention to their people. We have a genuine value of creating the best working years in our staff's lives. I am also surprised that it seems strange that I know every 189 employees by name. How could I not know the people who are working so hard to produce a great business? As the CEO of a company, I think it is expected to be close to my team; it delivers a much stronger unit at the end of the day.
- People are not your greatest resource; the right people are: We take much longer to employ than other companies and invest a great deal in the process. We recruit on values and make sure the person is excited about our culture. However, this has a side effect; we only hire passionate, eager, happy, caring people who have travelled internationally so it is a tall order. Nevertheless, it is something we stand by, even to the point where we would rather have fewer staff that live and breathe what Pentravel is than enough, who does not.
- Retain your staff: Building strong teams should come first before any other strategy. Pouring money into marketing and technology for instance is an approach, but not at the risk of ignoring your people! Building teams should be every manager's major preoccupation. They also need the courage to get rid of the vrot apples; otherwise all apples will go vrot.
- Deloitte states that respondents from a company with a strong sense of purpose are more likely to say that it recorded positive growth (81%) and outgrew competitors (64%). 82% of the same respondents also unsurprisingly said they had more confidence that their company would grow than those who did not.
- Raise your standards: Much like culture, standards can sometimes have more value than strategy - especially for those in service industries. It is not about perfection but about creating an environment in which people can progress. I believe it is also key to treat people as if they are important; this makes them feel important, which then motivates them to act important.
- Lighten up: According to the recent Gallup study, only 32% of workers feel engaged by their jobs. It is key to laugh every day and often! This produces feel good hormones and helps people deal with stress that cultivates a sense of creativity. Avoid keeping the lid on so tight; the survival of the world does not depend on the job you are doing - unless you are a world leader perhaps.
Shed adds that often culture is seen as something on its own where by doing a few internal activations it can be shifted. Similarly, significant resources are invested to create brilliant business strategies and operational plans without considering the organisational culture that is going to mobilise it. "Culture is like DNA; it is complex, detailed, implicit and explicit. It is more entrenched than businesses often realise and is responsible for large parts of organisational stability. Unearthing and influencing culture takes courage, long term vision and commitment - but don't underestimate the value in doing this - it may well be the competitive edge your organisation needs."
