A company culture is more than just a work environment for employees… it helps define an organization.
In 2016, Deloitte conducted a study, Global Human Capital Trends, that showed 82 percent of respondents believed that a company culture creates a competitive advantage, reaching beyond just employees. A strong culture can not only drive organizational performance and improve employee engagement, but it can drive customer satisfaction and even revenue.
Increased corporate transparency has magnified the importance of a company culture.
Consumers now have near unlimited access to information and insights about a company’s:
Values
Products and services
Treatment of employees
Environmental policies
Corporate philanthropy strategy
Global manufacturing capabilities
Customer serviceAnd more…
Armed with this information, consumers are now making better educated decisions about purchase habits from brands they admire and trust. And… they are often willing to pay a premium for these goods and services.
While there are many varieties of cultures, product-focus, family-friendly or sales-driven, some of the world’s most innovative and competitive companies have recognized the importance of a customer-centric culture.
A customer-focused culture puts the customer at the center of all activity and strategy... more than profits… more than shareholder expectations… more than growth.
“A true customer-centric culture is more sustainable than any other type of culture because it builds a business model that can evolve with changing customer needs," said Mark Ship, Board Director and Business Adviser at Sandler and Ship, which helps organizations transform to accelerate growth. “Customer needs change and sometimes they change quickly. Customers will find providers and suppliers that evolve with their changing needs.”
With the customer at the center of your mission… the customer becomes the reason for change because a company is always building and evolving to create an experience for its customers.
“The customer should be the catalyst for change,” said Bill Margaritis, business consultant helping organizations understand the power company culture. “Change is constant in life and in business so you have to learn to embrace change… or it will embrace you. And, change is inevitable if you are truly focused on your customers because customer needs are constantly evolving.”
A customer-centric culture also has an incredible impact on a company’s brand and reputation. A brand is not just a logo or product name… it is the experiences a person or consumer has with a company and culture is a huge component of that experience. Not only will a strong customer-centric culture create a consistent experience for ALL customers, but it also connects ALL employees.
A strong culture connects employees across the entire enterprise and empowers ALL employees to make better and stronger decisions… in the best interests of its customers. Employees own the brand and define it. They understand that their actions and decisions are connected to a higher purpose and determine the connection a customer has with the enterprise.
Margaritis adds, “Think about it… employees in a large, global corporation make millions of decisions every day. And, a core set of values and commitment to the customer empowers those employees to individually make the right decision. Often, those decisions can have a huge impact on a customer experience and brand… making the difference between success and failure.”
Warren Buffet understood the power of a brand and once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
In an era in which bad news travels instantaneously and an organization’s culture is both transparent and directly tied to its employment brand, great companies consciously cultivate and manage their culture, turning it into a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
A company culture is a business issue, not merely an HR issue. The CEO and leadership team need to own an organization’s culture, with HR supporting that responsibility through measurement, process, and infrastructure.
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