I think that culture is something that exists regardless of whether you’ve fostered it intentionally or not. Every team, organization, or business is going to have a culture. The question is how you are actively changing or transforming the culture into what you want it to be. Sometimes people will say that the morale is low at their particular business. What they are really talking about is the culture.
Lots of times, a business owner will have a meeting and they will talk about what they want to try. However, it’s just talk—the best way to transform or change the culture is to put your words into action. Here at Wisler Plumbing, we are very focused on the mission that has been here for many many years. That mission is to honor God, serve people, be diligent, do quality plumbing, and to grow profitably. We are very committed to that mission, and all our employees are aware of it as well.
I can’t say that every single employee has bought into it 100%. However, that’s the direction that we’re headed. I think our values are very important to making sure that we are on the right path. Our values at Wisler Plumbing are faith, family, provide, and courageous. Every single day, the people inside our organization know what we’re about. We are active in fostering the culture throughout our team.
I think that ‘vision’ is a word that’s thrown out there a whole lot. However, vision is really just the picture of your mission and your values coming together. It could be a short term goal or a long term goal, but having someone actively making sure that an organization or team stays on track is very important to the culture.
I think that the worst thing you can do to change culture is try to drive it. It has to be something that is done on a day-in, day-out basis and you have to be intentional about the actions that are taking place. Those actions need to align with your mission and values. Then it will slowly but surely transform the culture into what you want it to be.
I think that it’s very easy to say yes to everything if you don’t have a clear mission or values. There are tons of opportunities out there and there are tons of different decisions that must be made. However, if you don’t have a path laid out, it’s way too easy to just say yes to everything. All of a sudden, you’ll find yourself pulled in so many different directions, your culture is going to become damaged. Why? Because you may be on a path to changing your culture, and then you’ll make a decision that goes against what you are trying to do. You will end up taking two steps back if the decision isn’t made with the mission or values in mind.
You need to be able to make the hard decisions to stay on track and achieve what you’re looking to achieve. That is one of the keys toward changing culture.
If you want to experience our company’s culture firsthand, contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.
