Have you recently taken over leadership in a company whose culture is toxic? Or have you been here a while and have decided it’s time to remake the business’ image, both internally and to the world? A culture shift, depending on how entrenched the existing one is, can be a difficult task to take on. Here are a few jumping-off points to help you get started.
Rebuild Your Current Reputation
In the fast-paced world of internet news and gossip, a bad reputation can spread like wildfire before we know what to do about it. Whether you have grumbling former employees or unsatisfied customers writing poor reviews, there is something you can do to stem the flow of negativity: reputation management. Enlisting the help to help clean up the negative reports floating around and build positive feelings through targeted content creation and brand realignment is a good first step. If you can express how you want your company to be seen, they can work with you to make it happen.
Recruit Internal Investment
You want the people who work with and for you to be your biggest fans. Gather a few individuals from all levels within the company and have a candid sit down with them. Ask them things like:
- What are the good/bad things about our current culture?
- What improvements would you make to change the way people view working here?
- Do you know what our core values are? Are they being reflected by our management and teams?
Getting people on board in this way creates ownership and a level of investment that is more likely to get any shift to effectively stick. But you can’t just ask and not follow through. Take their input seriously and implement changes based on their feedback. This may mean taking a look at the company’s leadership and redistributing or letting go of toxic individuals.
Remember to Start Small and Persist
The transformation will not happen overnight. It will take a lot of work and perseverance on the part of all committed to seeing it through. Get curious instead of angry when things aren’t happening the way you imagined or wanted. Be sure to check in with the team you trusted with your initial conversations and get their feedback on how they see things changing. It is going to be all the baby steps adding up that finally reveal the growth. Make it easy to embrace one small aspect of the new culture, then the next bit, and the next until the brand is finally where you want it.
