What is your culture? Great Jay Holstine CEO discussion
Company culture is more than just a mission statement, and more than the products… it’s the purpose. Some CEOs call it the soul of the company. Many forward-leaning organizations are sculpting their cultures to be more fulfilling for employees, and more involved with their communities.
Jay Holstine’s CEO peer group, based in Dallas, is comprised of 16 CEOs from non-competing industries, who are dedicated to continuous improvement. They gather to hear expert speakers, and to confer and share ideas with each other.
“Enhancing company culture was the focus of our recent workshop,” Jay Holstine said.
“Our group explored how their companies’ people, policies, and public image were playing into their culture, and how they could be even more effective,” Holstine said. “Most CEOs are monitoring the changes in employee expectations of their companies, and ensuring that their cultures become more purpose-led, and inclusive. They are encouraging and facilitating employee involvement and growth,” Holstine added.
“Our group agreed that it’s now more important than ever to highlight your company’s purpose and emphasize a positive, socially conscious culture,” Holstine added.
“Internal influencers are vital in communicating this company culture. These are the employees who are engaged at various levels in the company, regardless of specific roles or departments. These are the employees with the ability to energize and include people around them,” Holstine said.
“One of our CEOs shared a success story in evolving their company culture through an innovative plan to provide employees with more discretionary time for personal development, continuing education, and the like. The influencers shared how this additional time could be derived from advances in efficiency, and facilitated the adoption of cross-functional IT integration with that objective,” Holstine said.
“Ultimately, the optimization simplified interactions, and mistake-proofed the orders, with a 20% improvement in certain operations, providing more discretionary time for employees to use in personal education and skill development,” Holstine said.
“This was exactly the boost to a positive, growth-minded company culture that the CEO was hoping to.
“Our discussion on company culture also explored the value of mentoring programs, innovations teams and Initiative programs. Another CEO shared some successful initiatives on facilitating shared experiences to help build connections and integration,” Holstine said.
“The group agreed that it’s also important to share how your company responds to employees and customers, how it is reaching beyond core work, and helping address more far-reaching issues in its mission,” Holstine said.
“CEO members also discussed the ways in which their companies were making recruiting more convenient, more interactive, and helping develop employee skills, demonstrating that they are investing in employees’ development over the long term.
“Developing a culture in which employees realize their own sense of purpose takes continuous involvement and innovation. Our CEO group concluded that the best companies are providing the flexibility for employees to learn, become better connected, and find the sense of meaning, purpose and value they are looking for,” Holstine said.
