Culture is the foundation of any organization.
—Gary Vaynerchuk, contractor
What exactly is corporate culture?
Everyone feels the effects of it, but it can be difficult to describe. Just as fish don’t realize that they’re immersed in water, culture is the organizational fishbowl in which everyone swims. Harvard Business Review Senior Editor Vasundhara Sawhney states, “Culture is an organization’s DNA. It is the shared values, goals, attitudes, and practices that characterize a workplace. It is reflected in how people behave, interact with each other, make decisions, and do their work. It impacts everything — including your happiness and career.”
Gary Vaynerchuk’s metaphor that culture is the backbone of the organization is not just figurative. Gallup found that a strong organizational culture explains a 50-point increase in worker engagement over a three-year period and an 85% increase in net profit over a five-year period. On the other hand, a bad culture is expensive. A recent FlexJobs survey found that the leading explanation for why other people leave their jobs is a poisonous corporate culture.
Strong cultures are not born by chance. It takes wonderful leaders to build them. These leaders take the time to reflect and explain their organization’s values. Then, they do the critical work to bring those values to life through behaviors, systems, and processes.
An example of such a leader is Joseph Shalaby, founder and CEO of E-Mortgage Capital (EMC). Shalaby has made difficult connections between corporate culture and business performance. Founded in 2015, EMC has seen significant growth and culture is a big explanation why.
Many corporations like to communicate about the quality of their corporate culture. But most do not keep their word. Only 23% of U. S. workers strongly agree that they can apply their organization’s values in their work.
Shalaby and EMC know that the secret to maintaining a wonderful culture lies in embedding their core values in everything they do. EMC’s five core values describe the acronym Se. C. R. E. T. :
When asked how EMC leaders ensure those values come to life every day, Shalavia responded, “We actively interact with the EMC network on a daily basis through multiple channels. Our instant chat formula (Microsoft Teams) allows leaders to answer questions in real-time, promoting rapid communication across the organization. We also conduct weekly educational sessions, averaging 1-2 educational sessions per day, to ensure continuous learning and development. We pay attention to internal issues and grow from within by working intensively with our frontline sales leaders and with our ongoing relationship leaders. This technique is helping us to face demanding situations and improve our processes.
The application of EMC values starts from day one. Shalaby explains, “Once onboarded to EMC, workers get a (EMC-style) card that highlights our core values and serves as a placeholder to put those values into effect in their lives. Our core values are also presented in our initial recruitment video, onboarding fabrics, and discussed in our trainings.
In our post-pandemic world, it’s no wonder that intellectual aptitude issues in the office are expanding exponentially. In its new 2024 State of Empathy in the Workplace report, Businessolver reports that the most valuable perks workers say is helping them take care of themselves. of his intellectual aptitude is an open-door policy. An open-door policy is a way through which team members can contact managers outside of normal meeting hours (and/or hierarchical levels) to have a discussion. Such a policy encourages workers to speak up when they have problems to solve.
Businessolver found that the percentage of painters who do not follow an open-door policy (91%) exceeds even the preference for flexible work schedules (89%), as well as the incentive to take breaks from their work (88%). These effects underline the importance of an authentic human relationship between managers and painters.
Shalathrough understands that an open-door policy is imperative for a strong culture. He shares: “My business partner (President Sam Hijazin) and I maintain an open-door policy. This allows us to have a more personalized relationship with EMC employees, allowing the team to address active concerns, morale, and demanding situations. within specific roles. This helps us prioritize work-life balance at EMC. It also encourages our internal operations and sales teams to come up with concepts while still being sure they will be heard. via mail email, phone or Teams despite the magnitude of daily demands and responsibilities, Sam Hijazin promises an email response to any team member within 24 hours of sending and delivers.
In its Global Leadership Forecast, Development Dimensions International reports that one of the most sensible considerations for today’s CEOs is expanding the next generation of leaders. No matter how wonderful you are as a leader, you can only do more as an individual. One component of being a senior leader is expanding leadership excellence at all levels.
Shalaby strives to meet this challenge head-on. He shares, “At EMC, we’re very selective about who we choose to lead, from senior management to middle management. We believe that strong effects are not enough to form an effective leader. Intangibles such as empathy and compassion, strong communication, and fostering expansion are more applicable than one might expect when choosing leaders. I would venture to say that hard skills and comfortable skills are equally vital for leadership roles. We are expanding internally, which allows us to build and expand the leadership that most productively serves the organization and our people.
Developing and developing leadership functions does not mean seeking to impose a single leader style. Shalaby explains: “At EMC, we believe you deserve to come as you are. Authentic leadership means leading with an original purpose and staying true to yourself. I have interaction in open discussion with our team, sharing my non-public reports and lessons learned. This technique fosters acceptance as true and encourages everyone to put their whole selves into the work, knowing that their unique perspectives and contributions are valued.
Shalaby’s insights into creating a strong culture go hand-in-hand with business expansion. EMC has an enviable history of expansion. In their first year, they achieved $3 million in loan volume, a key metric in their industry. In 2022, EMC finalized $2. 1 billion in loan volume. This amount will increase to $2. 7 billion in 2023 and is on track to reach $4 billion this year.
If you view your corporate culture as only one detail of your overall business strategy, you probably won’t see the forest for the trees. Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM, heard this:
Until I came to IBM, I probably would have told you that culture was just one among several important elements in any organization’s makeup and success — along with vision, strategy, marketing, financials, and the like… I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.
As a leader, each action you take influences your culture, for better or worse.
To build your workers’ collective capacity to create value, use those 3 keys:
Not only will this help your culture, but it will also help you grow your business.
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