Internal Communications: 3 tips to boost your start-up’s culture
Time to read: 2 minutes
Emma Tucker, our internal communications consultant, provides her top three tips for creating a company culture that is right for you.
All companies have a culture regardless of how old or new they are or the condition of their internal communications. Your culture captures the essence of who you are and how you do things. It can attract people to join you and keep them working effectively and loyally.
For start-ups, culture and vision can be used to convince prospective hires and intentionally defining and promoting both will keep you honest as you grow.
Here are three ways to get intentional with your culture.
1. Define it.
Get your people in a room and discuss what makes the company special. Write it down. Get specific on the words you choose, and don’t be afraid to disagree; it’s in the debate that you’ll uncover areas of tension and uniqueness. Think about the stories you tell about your company – what do they say about you?
Define the values and behaviours you want to live by. For example, you might choose “Impact” as a value and explain the accompanying behaviours as “You accomplish important work that positively impacts our clients”, “You consider the impact of your work on the people around you”, and “You leave a good impression because you take action and deliver on your promises.”
Involve employees in the process by letting them discuss the values and prioritise relevant and helpful behaviours for their work. Then, test it with your clients and external stakeholders. Honest feedback will be your friend.
Keep refining the descriptions until they feel right and truly reflect your thoughts. Aim to define four or five company values. Teams can then decide on the relevant behaviours (aim for three behaviours per value).
2. Embed it.
Weave your culture into every interaction with your employees and clients. It should:
- Be part of hiring, developing, and assessing your people.
- Become integral to how you innovate and grow your business offering.
- Be part and parcel of how you approach client meetings and deliver results.
- Be reflected in your communications, tone, and methods.
- Be instantly recognisable in everything from financial updates to processes and procedures.
- Be projected in team meetings and one-to-one conversations.
Ultimately, your culture should dictate how you measure your performance and success.
3. Evolve it.
Your culture is organic and will evolve whether you intentionally maintain it or not. Revisit the definitions. A set of values and behaviours appropriate for year one might need another look by year five. Check that you haven’t missed an important touchpoint as you’ve grown.
Smart leaders keep their finger on the pulse. Return to your employees and clients, listen to their stories, observe their behaviours, and act on their feedback. This is true internal communications in action. The speed and scale of your growth will dictate the frequency of these checkpoints, but every six months is a sensible guide.
This process is worth the effort because getting intentional about your culture will drive better business outcomes. McKinsey’s Organisational Health Index shows that organisations with top-quartile cultures post a 60% higher shareholder return than median companies and 200% higher than those in the bottom quartile.
People who want to add to your culture will perform better, more easily adapt to change, and help you attract more talent. They will be your champions.
Putting in the effort to define, embed, and evolve your culture during the early years of your start-up will save you a lot of time, money, and energy in the long run.
