WHAT'S YOUR BUSINESS' PERSONALITY?
Just like people, businesses have distinct personalities. Often they are the brainchild and creation of one individual, and are therefore well aligned with the personality of their creators. They are also influenced by the personality characteristics of every employee, as well as by the customers they server. As a company matures, the various influences - founding members, executive board members, employees, clients - interact to create a unique organizational personality, often quite different from that envisioned by its founder.
Organizational personality influences work style and methods, processes and systems, decision-making and value propositions. It dictates how and why things get done and, most importantly, it significantly affects an organizations' ability to attract and retain its employees and clients.
Examples Of Business Personalities
Organizational personality is easier to understand and appreciated when it's considered within the context of well-known organizations. Drawing from the work of Linda Fekete, author of Companies are People, Too, we can compare the personalities of two well-known and much-studied companies: Apple and IBM
Apple is a youthful, leading edge, fast-paced, and innovative organization. It is energized and driving by outside-of-the-box thinking, risk-taking, spontaneity, and quick decision-making. It is big-picture focused and quite idealistic in its approach. It is energized by possibilities, opportunities and ideas.
Informal, flexible, and relationship-focused, Apple encourages collaboration, discussion, and innovation. Relationships are close and informal.
Individuals attracted to the Apple environment will value independent decision-making and a fast-paced work environment that prioritizes change over conformity to established norms.
IBM, on the other hand, thrives on order, continuity, and consistency. Its focus is on the "tried-and-true". It ensures its clients consistency, quality and value for dollar. Not a risk-taker, IBM supports change only after sufficient study and analysis confirms a high probability for success and a positive impact to the bottom line.
Relationships tend to be more formal, impersonal, and business-focused. Security, stability, reliability, and dispassionate decision-making are characteristic of this organization.
Individuals attracted to organizations like IBM enjoy systematic, process-based work environments and measured, thoughtful change.
Advantages Of Knowing Your Business Personality
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Attracting the right employees - One of the greatest advantages of knowing, and profiling, your business personality is your ability to adapt your hiring strategy accordingly. People are drawn to companies whose personalities are aligned with their own work values and preferences. Chances are you will find more of the right personality types while respond to your job ads if you let your company profile become as easily recognized as are Apple's and IBMs. While the technical skills within these organizations are often very similar, their distinct personalities offer a better fit for one person over another. More "right hires", mean higher staff retention, and reduced recruitment, training, and de-hiring costs.
Research has consistently proven that companies who hire for organizational "fit" are rewarded through improved productivity and profit, happier and more committed employees, and significantly higher staff retention. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Built to Last suggest that this is what, in part, defines great companies, separating them from the merely good - knowing your organizational culture and personality and hiring accordingly. - Attracting the right customers - Like employees, clients are attracted to organizations by their personality, which is reflected in their work methods and value propositions. Consider the car manufacturing companies. Volvo is know for safety; Jaguar for sleekness and style; Lexus for after-sale service.
The product is essentially the same yet each company attracts a different type of client, the client whose won values, needs, and preferences align with the organization's personality. By understanding your organization's personality, you can more easily identify your client base and develop your sales and marketing strategy accordingly. - Maintaining the Corporate Focus - During times of change or instability, it is easy for organizations to lose their sense of identity. When the company personality is well defined and communicated, it is less vulnerable to external influence. Employees and clients alike can weather periods of organizational instability of change more easily when they understand that the essence of the company has not been affected, and that their own values and interestes, and the corporate personality remain aligned.
How To Identify Your Company's Personality
The quickest and easiest way to identify your organizational personality is to undergo objective assessment carried out by a third-party evaluator. Nevertheless, there are ways to undertake self-assessment. Start by developing a questionnaire that can be completed by individuals at all levels of the organization - executive, management, and staff - as well as by a sampling of clients. Questions should centre around:
- Organizational systems and procedures
- Human resource management
- Information gathering and decision-making
- Work routines
- Work style
- Reputation within the industry
Knowing and communicating your organizational personality makes great business sense. Companies who adopt this strategy position themselves for success and, quite possiblty, for greatness.
Gail Reisch is President and CEO of vpi Inc.
