Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Secrets for Driving Culture in Business Today

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Secrets for Driving Culture in Business Today Drivingcultureinvolves reinforcing beliefs and behaviors that determine how that organizations leaders and employees interact internally and externally. Is there a formula for it? Not exactly. There are, however, certain best practices that Ive learned along the way as an entrepreneur, and also by consulting two fellow business owners: Jacqueline Marrano, owner of accounting firmMarrano Solutionsand Reuben Yonatan, founder and CEO of customer relationship software companyGetCRM. 1. Focus on recruitment and onboarding. Driving culture starts with your people. And if you are clear about your mission, vision and values, you canattract potential employeeswith similar sensibilities.“We position our culture at the forefront within all our hiring materials and spend lots of time searching for the most motivated and driven individuals to join our company, because the quality of our employees has a direct impact oncustomer satisfaction, product output and brand reputation, says Yonatan.“And, when new hires come aboard, he continues, we make very clear whats expected of them and how their role is meaningful not just in the office, but meaningful in the real world, so they can be proud of where they work and what they do. 2. Foster a meaningful employee experience. Employees now expect an experience at work that is comparable to the experience they have at home via services like Netflix and Amazon. You choose what you want to do when you want to do it, and interactions are easy and convenient. Yourunique employee experienceshould cover all facets of the employment lifecycle, including recruitment, onboarding, learning, performance and transition. This involves understanding and promoting the activities employees undertake at each stage that can help immerse them in the culture while also reaching maximum productivity and potential. Yonatan believes he has created a culture for his employees to thrive, be themselves, have fun and do their best on every project. “Our team members stay with us because we offer aflexible experiencethat develops and captivates them, he says. We provide an exciting in-house culture witha lot of perks, but we also share how employees roles are meaningful in the real world, and how they can do them from home, for example. Its important to realize, however, that customized experiences are key: a one-size-fits-all approach may not be effective in driving culture, even for employees in the same location and role. For the rest of the piece, head over to the AMEX OpenForum.