Ensuring your culture sticks

I’ve talked about the value of a strong culture and how to build one in “Culture Doesn’t Equal Employee Perks” and “4 Steps to Engineering a Great Culture.”

But then what? Here are seven best practices for making sure your culture thrives.

1. Hiring: It’s a lot harder to get someone to change their personality to fit your culture than to hire people who already fit. I recommend clearly articulating the culture in all job postings so non-fit prospective employees can opt out before they even apply.

2. Onboarding: At Kasasa, all new employees are shown a video of me explaining our values. They receive a booklet that details the company’s values and describes real-world application of the behaviors we demand. New hires are then tested on the values and forced to retake the exam until they pass. Next employees spend a full day in our “War College,” where they examine the values in great detail through structured exercises and presentations from existing employees.

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