The ingredient that counts for 80% of company culture

Many companies try to create a company culture from recipes or good practices, but most of the time, they’re missing two major ingredients.

The most authentic company cultures develop naturally from good intentions and integrity. Anyone trying to use strategy to build company culture is almost guaranteed to fail. Indeed, the company might be successful, but its culture always offers insight into how things really are behind the scenes.

Company culture begins with the company’s leaders, which includes the company owner(s), CEO, and any other decision-maker. Any individual on that level can affect culture, even if the rest are amazing, so establishing a solid management team is crucial.

At SimplyPHP, it took us years to realize that. There was always one piece of the puzzle that wasn’t good enough. Sometimes it was us, the owners. So, we had to fix ourselves and our management team.

Do you know the 80/20 rule? Well, I believe that there is one ingredient that makes up 80% of your company culture. It’s something that’s incredibly difficult to fake – empathy. It’s a myth that one can’t be empathic and good at business – one doesn’t prevent the other.

If you manage your company with genuine empathy, you’re already 80% of the way there. So, if you work for a company that doesn’t have that, I bet your culture isn’t right.