Culture is a manifestation of your company's values, and it impacts everything from talent recruiting to innovation. Unfortunately, some founders and CEOs, especially at early-stage startups, confuse culture with perks or, worse, believe that defining a company's culture is a task best left up to someone else. Eleven founders from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) call out the most persistent culture myths--and what you can do to overcome them:
1. Perks = Culture
"Many startup founders mistakenly think that fun perks automatically make for a good culture. Don't get me wrong--happy hours, Ping-Pong tables and catered lunches are great, but they're not going to keep employees happy unless you work to create a fundamental culture of respect. It's a lot easier to provide perks than it is to make sure that employees feel motivated and valued." --Jared Feldman, Mashwork
2. Culture Doesn't Start With You
"Most CEOs don't realize that they are defining the culture by how they are behaving. Snap at people often? Anger will become part of your culture. Undermine your staff? Bureaucracy will invade your culture. Pretend everything is always amazing? You'll create a culture full of fakes. If you want a culture that is always evolving and becoming more beautiful, invest in doing so yourself." --Corey Blake, Round Table Companies
3. Employee Feedback Isn't Important
"Some CEOs do not treat employee feedback as if it was as important as their own thoughts, because they are not viewed as equals. Though it is clear a CEO's role is more expansive then other positions, the culture of a company can be negatively affected if people's ideas and thoughts are suppressed. Each employee has a unique view of the organization, and the culture of sharing views is important to the company's success." ---Phil Chen, Systems Watch
4. Remote Work Doesn't Impact Culture
"I've worked for several companies remotely for years, and none of them have worked out long term. You always have things going on, and you are never as productive as when you're together in a group. Working with others next to you is the best way for your company culture to grow. If you have to work remotely, find a way to get to the office at least twice a week to improve culture." --John Rampton, Adogy
5. Someone Else Owns It
"They assume it's someone else's problem to deal with. HR doesn't own culture. Employees don't own culture. Everyone owns culture, and senior leaders have an enormous impact on how business gets done in the day-to-day. CEOs who don't understand this are destined to live with whatever they get. CEOs who do understand their roles are better equipped to be intentional about the culture they create in ways that drive performance."--Chris Cancialosi, GothamCulture
6. Culture Doesn't Need to Be Defined
"Chris Wood of Paige Technologies says it best, 'Organizations are really only a representation of the people in them; employers must be diligent about mapping culture.' Products and services can be duplicated, but people can't. Your people drive your culture and they are the one defining difference of a company. CEOs forget to understand and define the culture that they have in place early on." --Jason Grill, JGrill Media | Sock 101
7. Culture Is Just a Set of Values
"We help many growing companies build culture, and the one thing most CEOs get wrong is forgetting to operationalize it. Culture isn't just a set of core values on the wall--it's a set of consistent behaviors. You have to be clear what those values look like in practice (we call them work rules) so current and future employees see culture in action and understand how works gets done in the company and align the company to them." --Susan LaMotte, Exaqueo
8. Culture Only Matters When You Reach X Size
"Most CEOs think they don't have to worry about company culture until their business meets certain profit or growth margins. In reality, company culture is affecting your bottom line regardless of your margins. I'll say it again: Your company's culture is inextricable from your company's success. Focus on hiring the right people and offering them a place to thrive. With the wrong staff or an unmotivated staff, your company will go nowhere." --Sean Kelly, HUMAN
9. You Can't Hire for Culture
"You have to carefully select the type of people you add to your team if you're going for a particular culture. For instance, if you're a fashion company, you probably want to hire people that are actually passionate about fashion. It's good to have people with different ideas, but generally they should have a shared common interest. With that shared interest, you can build a culture that your team members and customers can get behind." --Andy Karuza, Brandbuddee
10. Compensation Is the Only Motivator
"Once they reach a certain salary, most non-sales employees could honestly care less about additional compensation. Employees work to feel needed, so remind them that they are your company. Recognize them, and make it public recognition." --Justin Gray, LeadMD
11. Culture Will Wait for You to Create It
"The interesting thing about a company culture is that it will create itself if you don't create it first. CEOs need to define and personify the company culture and instill it at every level of the organization. The best companies all have a culture based on their mission, and all employees know why they're working so hard. When the opposite is true, the culture will create itself--and it may not be the culture you envisioned." --Andrew Thomas, SkyBell Technologies, Inc.
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