Why company culture is key (part 1)
For a stadium or event to thrive and for fans to visit (and keep on visiting), there needs to be a believable, tangible culture. An organisation’s culture is its personality. It defines the way in which employees work, and it encompasses an organisation’s: vision, mission, values, expectations, goals, welfare, atmosphere, vibe, expectations, accountability and responsibilities. When a customer comes across a strong company culture, they feel it!
It might be in the way customer service deals with them, the way something’s packaged, their experience in the shop, in the car park or on their way to their seats. But whatever their experience, good or bad, it leaves an impression on them and will influence future decisions they make in respect of an event and venue and whether they visit again.
But that also means your stadium needs to be a great place to work
Stadium and event staff need to be able to buy-in to an easy to identify with culture in order to fully maximise their output and in turn, add great benefit to the customer experience. If you want your venue to thrive, staff need to understand, believe and value the culture, thereby turning them into an engaged, energetic and productive team. The culture needs to flow from the top and needs to be consistent throughout the senior team, cascading down through staff teams and including contractor relationships too. Time and effort need to be put into ensuring the culture has an identity, is clear and people understand how their role relates to this. Yet so many large organisations fail to appreciate the importance of company culture or implement one that is meaningful, effective and relevant.
How companies can get culture wrong
There’s a never-ending list of ways companies can get their culture wrong. They can: fail to recognise it as important in the first place; put the wrong people in positions of authority; promote the wrong ethics and attitudes; fail to align their processes with their culture and fail to make it meaningful on a day to day basis for the staff at the coalface (after all, a brilliant “culture dossier” tucked in the CEO’s bottom drawer means nothing to the team operating the tills). But one of the most common and more complex mistakes is to confuse culture with brand.
Yes, you’ve got to get the brand right
As a business, you probably spend a lot of time engaging with fans, marketing your brand and improving the guest experience. But brand tends to be far more outward looking and part of the communications plan to the market. In fact, the desire to get this right is often a leading part of a business plan. And of course, the brand is important. It enables customers to identify with the organisation and therefore assists with income generation as people buy into that brand. And it’s vitally important for sports stadia to get this right. Often, huge effort goes into the brand and the marketing of it and successful brands (think Wimbledon, Ascot, Arsenal, and Lords) can conjure up images of what sort of experience they will provide to their patrons, just by identifying with their name.
But don’t confuse brand identity with culture
A strong brand does not necessarily mean a strong cultural identity. Much of an organisation’s culture is inward looking and is focused on defining what makes that place a special workplace and what helps to ensure staff are fully engaged. You have to ask how does your outward facing brand identity correlate with the internal face of your organisation?
When brand jars with culture
If the culture of a company is meant to be relaxed, creative and fun in order to generate innovative solutions, then there is no point in being too rigid with timekeeping and productivity measurements. Instead, output goals should be set with the path to achieving less defined. The end result should be crystal clear, and the focus should be on reaching that and celebrating achievements along the way. Otherwise, your culture just isn’t meaningful.
What happens when you get your company culture wrong
At first, a failure to implement an effective company culture may not seem to be that devastating. But the reality is that the result of a poor culture is that not only will your venue or stadium fail to thrive, it will eventually just fail. A company’s culture has a profound effect on the behaviour, attitude and productivity of your employees. Whereas a positive culture encourages responsible, happy, committed and innovative employees, the opposite results in:
Poor discipline
Poor communication
Poor staff morale
High staff turnover
Difficulties recruiting
Low productivity
Poor customer service and experience
Reputation damage
Loss of market to your competitors
An understandable culture is vital for staff engagement
Your employee’s behaviour will reflect the environment they are in. If you have created a regime that is driven solely by profit, with little interest in its staff’s welfare or development and little interest in its community, well then, your employees will be a reflection of that culture. And your customers will feel it.
And what happens when you do get it right?
“At Zappos, our belief is that if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff — like great customer service, or building a great long-term brand, or passionate employees and customers — will happen naturally on its own.”
Tony Hsieh (internet entrepreneur, CEO at Zappos) 2010
When the actions, decisions, communications and feelings of everyone within the company are informed and influenced by the culture behind it. When it’s apparent when you deal with someone that they’re happy, inspired and feel valued. That they enjoy what they’re doing and want you to enjoy your experience too. It’s then that the magic starts to happen, and a stadium or event starts to thrive.
Does the other stuff really just happen naturally?
Whilst research has repeatedly shown that poor company culture can result in poor employee retention and a raft of other problems, on the other hand, Larry Alton (Forbes, 2017) outlines three main and very significant benefits when it comes to a strong and positive culture:
“Identity –Culture contributes to the identity and values of your venue. For example, if your culture is one that prioritises setting and meeting goals, your individual staff will be more likely to set and meet goals of their own. It’s a good way to set and maintain the direction of your employees, and without it, it’s hard to keep your venue’s values coherent.
Retention – A strong culture attracts better talent and, more importantly, retains that talent. When people feel like they belong to an organisation, they’re more likely to stick around for the long term. That means lower turnover, fewer new hires to deal with, and better chemistry among your team.
Image – Culture also adds to your brand identity. If you treat your employees well and have a fun-loving corporate atmosphere, your customers will see you as a fun-loving, generous brand. Depending on your target demographics, that will be a major boon for sales and fan loyalty.”
At grassroots
As an employee, being clear on the company’s vision, aspirations and way of working is liberating, as it removes doubt and gives purpose and meaning. It also means recruiting staff should be more fruitful as a clear fit should be evident.
Culture equates to productivity
“Corporate culture is… the most important factor driving innovation”
Rajesh Chandy, professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management
There’s little doubt that innovation and productivity are major determiners of success, and research has repeatedly demonstrated that culture is a major determiner of innovation. And whilst, productivity might at first glance just look like getting products and services to customers at the lowest cost and best price, of course, it involves much more. It involves quality, customer service, a team that is well motivated, good communications – all of which are a direct result of… a strong culture. Culture is about how well a company empowers its team to do their job to the very best of their ability. Empowered employees feel a sense of belonging, a confidence in their role, purpose, and performance. In other words, engaged. Which in turn means you’ll have committed teams who are dynamic in how they go about their jobs. Provide meaningful, well-remunerated work in a great environment and your employees will be happy and excited to contribute with both energy and ideas. In short, they will be inspired to be innovators, problem solvers and even thought leaders.
Neglect your company culture at your peril
We are creatures of our environment. Brand is important, but culture should be your lifeblood. Put it at the very top of your list of your priorities and at the very heart of everything you do. In today’s super competitive market, you simply cannot afford to get it wrong or neglect it. If you really want your venue to be great, to be the best and to thrive, then make it a great place to be for everyone; staff, contractors and customers alike.
If you’d like to know more, about how to shape and implement a tangible company culture, please get in touch.