Great company cultures don’t appear out of thin air. They happen because business leaders bring their employees together under a shared mission, and cultivate a collaborative environment. Joining Jim Fitzpatrick with CBT News via Skype is Paul Potratz, Founder of Potratz Partners Advertising which recently placed #57 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list of 2018 in the small business category.
Firstly, Paul believes that the ideal culture for a company is when you have a group of individuals who are not focused on their titles and accolades, but rather on their vision as a team. The team is also able to think critically, and not rely as heavily on automation. The company will continue to run regardless if the business owner or manager is there or not. And it’s the little things that upper management don’t think about, or take for granted, that mean so much for the team.
While it’s important to build a strong culture, you also need to have a process, or schedule of company meetings and outings. Ultimately, it’s not necessary to have a mission statement, but a team that understands and works to the collective goal. The mission statement was created by the owners, and it’s not relatable, nor valuable to the team. As Paul explains, “A lot of companies get so tied up dealing with fire drills, that they forget to focus on their team.”
But what happens when managers need to provide feedback to employees? Paul says stop trying to manage salespeople individually, and give feedback to the entire team. Cast your vision for your employees. Here’s what I want to accomplish, here’s how I want to do it, and is it feasible? Don’t single anyone out, bring the team together.
Once you have strong customer and employee satisfaction, the benefits your company can see are enormous. Your employees will have the utmost confidence and trust in the company, and your loyal customer base will reward your efforts time and time again. You’ll also see more profits and less turnover.
If you’re not sure what your company culture is in its current state, Paul suggests 
surveying your employees to find out what they think the culture is. Pauls’s company does an anonymous survey every quarter to gain an understanding of employees thoughts and feelings, and to also weed out managers who might not be a good fit for the team.
Paul says, “As a manager, you should sit in the back seat, and let your team be the ones that get the focus and the praise.”
Ultimately, it is well worth the investment to assemble a team that appreciates what they’re doing and sees an opportunity for growth. This is the foundation for an excellent company culture.
