Business Management

Corporate culture is no longer a feel-good issue. According to Joanne G. Sujansky, Ph.D., becoming a Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organization is a key to your survival in our fiercely competitive economy.
The global economy has you feeling more than a little uneasy. And no wonder. You’re competing with the entire world. You need that competitive edge that can’t be duplicated. When you come to this sobering realization, your first instinct is to focus all of your energies on product development or marketing. You need bottom-line results and you need them now. But according to Joanne G. Sujansky what you should give priority—and what tends to get neglected when things get tough—is your corporate culture. You must create the kind of environment that not only attracts the most talented people, but frees and nurtures their inner entrepreneur.
That’s right. The CEO and founder of KEYGroup® says that in order to achieve and sustain growth and profitability, you must devote attention to building the kind of company in which that elusive sense of ownership can flourish. Her term for such a culture is the Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organization, or VEO.
“Technology, processes, and global outsourcing have pretty much leveled the playing field in a global marketplace,” says Sujansky. “One thing that can differentiate you from the company across the street, or across the sea for that matter, is your corporate culture. Clearly, culture is no longer a ‘soft’ issue—it’s your competitive edge. It must play a vital part in your strategic plan, because it determines the kind of people you attract and, more than that, it determines whether their innovation and passion and sense of ownership are stoked . . . or stifled.”
So what does a Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organization look like? Sujansky describes it in terms of the following five characteristics:
A VEO shares the “big picture” people need to take personal risks and hold themselves accountable.
A VEO is completely transparent. There are no secrets. Employees know beyond the shadow of a doubt where the company is now, where it wants to go, and what the values are that will take it there. Sharing your vision with your people is more than “a nice thing to do”— it’s a necessity. If employees don’t have the big picture—in terms of the quintessential vision and in terms of day-to-day projects they encounter in the business—how can they take the right kinds of risks?
Without risk there can be no significant gain. In an entrepreneurial culture, people know that you trust them to take measured risks, risks calculated to advance the vision of your corporation. When people are free to take risks, they are likely to explore multiple possibilities and find unexpected solutions. They “own” these solutions, and will hold themselves accountable. If you force them into a rigid mold, they will hold you accountable for the outcome, since you “made” them do it that way.
To inspire risk-taking in your employees, take risks yourself. In this way you model the creative spirit you want them to embrace. Tell them you expect them to take well-thought-out risks and own the results. Encourage and reward confrontations and questions, as they are part of the process. When people see you encourage creativity and accept mistakes, they’ll be more likely to take risks. This attitude will enhance the agility and effectiveness of your company.
A VEO exemplifies the new face of loyalty.
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times: employee loyalty is dead. And if the loyalty refers to the toe-the-company-line-for-thirty-years-and-retire-with-a-gold-watch mentality of yesteryear, it is indeed dead. Most employees (the ones worth keeping) aren’t just looking for a place to go, put in their time, and collect a paycheck. They want challenging, meaningful, enriching work. In return, they look for ways to build and improve their company’s future. If they are viewed as a commodity that can easily be replaced, they will look elsewhere for opportunities.
Leaders in entrepreneurial cultures look beyond the lukewarm, overused goal of “employee satisfaction.” They seek to challenge, inspire, and develop their people. They create ways that people can use their unique skills and talents to advance the company’s vision. They help employees get the resources and support they need to accomplish their goals. They provide opportunities for employees to grow and develop and become more marketable.
People tend to give more loyalty to companies that view them as complete human beings. Sure, salary matters. But a healthy work/life balance means as much, and, to some, even more. Employees want to know that you value their personal life as well as what they bring to the company. Provide opportunities for work/life balance. If you’re a true leader, model such behavior yourself. Find ways to build and maintain your own resilience. Not only will this keep you from burning out, it alleviates the subtle pressure others may feel to put in unproductive “face time” to keep up with you.
A VEO supports high productivity while minimizing stress.
Downsizing and scarce resources have created workplaces marked by chronic anxiety and chaos. People are stretched to the breaking point. Their days are stressful and fragmented. They look busy and seem to be working at almost superhuman speed and intensity. Though this may seem like a good thing, it is actually harmful. When stress rises higher, mistakes increase, opportunities are lost, and productivity can actually decline. People become physically ill and start missing days. Such environments are highly destructive, counterproductive, and unsuited for the quick response times necessary in a global environment.
Don’t confuse activity with progress. Know that just because there’s a lot going on doesn’t mean things are really getting done. People must be given specific, challenging, yet attainable outcomes they’re expected to meet. Put systems in place for measuring productivity and live by them. Remember that what gets measured gets done, and make certain that what you’re measuring really matters. Create policies that ensure that the “urgent” doesn’t take precedence over the “important,” and do everything you can to eliminate redundancies and unnecessary busy work.
Establish ongoing and final evaluative processes so people can get feedback. But don’t limit feedback to formal evaluations. Give it on the spot. You should tell people in real time what they’re doing wrong so they can correct it, but it’s even more important to tell them what they’re doing right. That’s spontaneous coaching and it’s one of the most critical elements of an entrepreneurial culture.
A VEO produces a winning tradition.
Success breeds more success. People who become accustomed to winning want to keep on winning. Indeed, losing becomes unacceptable. Winners take losing personally and will do whatever they must do in order to avoid it. This is a reality of human nature and one that serves entrepreneurial cultures well.
Create a cycle of winning by seeking out and hiring only the best people. Hire for raw talent and values and character, not just for skill sets. You can teach people the skills they need, but you can’t always teach work ethic or integrity or optimism. Consider using proven selection tools and assessments to ensure that you hire the right people for your culture. Find ways to “keep the keepers.” It’s difficult and expensive to attract new talent. Likewise, get rid of people who aren’t contributing, as they will hamper progress and destroy the morale of your high performers.
When your company is made up of winners, it will be unstoppable. You will win victory after victory in the marketplace. And that, in turn, will attract more winners to your company. The cycle continues.
A VEO elevates communication to an art form.
In a VEO, communication goes far beyond sending out emails at the right time or holding employee forums on critical issues (although these tools may well be valuable for many companies). It means that leaders make sure that people understand and buy into major change initiatives—after all, real change is always voluntary—and that, in turn, employees make their voices clearly heard. People on both sides of the leadership desk care enough to share their heartfelt viewpoints, not just exchange information.
Here’s a major reason why communication matters so much: it’s inextricably linked to diversity. Why is diversity important? Because our differences are the fuel that sparks innovation. If everyone comes from the same background, ideas will be depressingly similar. A company can have the right “quotas”—prescribed percentages of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and so forth—but unless all of these people can express their viewpoints with clarity and confidence, politically-correct policies mean nothing. Diversity is about different people seeing the same things in different ways . . . whether those differences originate in socioeconomic background, culture, gender, or age.
When you realize that buy-in cannot exist until people are really, truly informed, you will start to view communication as an individual issue, not a group issue. Consider the communication style of each person (here’s where personality assessments pay off) and tailor conversations accordingly. This is especially critical when you’re talking to people of different races and cultural/socioeconomic backgrounds. Look for opportunities for mutual, two-way communication. Ask for feedback, and make sure that your demeanor invites it. If the information is critical, communicate it at least four times—for instance, via a company-wide announcement, an e-mail, a personal conversation, and a follow-up memo. When something really matters, you can’t say it too many times.
Sujansky admits that there are plenty of skeptics out there, people who believe that a company’s survival has more to do with slashing overhead to the bone or reorganizing or adopting the latest fad than it does with focusing on corporate culture. But she insists these naysayers are missing the point.
“No matter how brilliant an idea or innovation may be,” she says, “if your people don’t have the drive, the commitment, and the dedication to nurture it and bring it to fruition, you might as well not bother. There will always be a competitor who can take your idea and do it cheaper, faster, better.
“What your competition can’t replicate is your culture,” she continues. “If you have a company full of passionate, dedicated people, you have an endless source of brilliant ideas. Your employees have a stake in your company that goes beyond grabbing the next paycheck. They’re committed to growing the business. They engage customers. They enthusiastically showcase your brand. Everyone wants to be a part of what you have. You have an entire organization full of vibrant entrepreneurs—and that’s the key to thriving in the global economy.”