Establishing a start-up culture is about leadership, not ping-pong
Chances are that if you are reading this, you have an interest in changing something or rocking the establishment in some meaningful way. If that’s the case, I applaud you, because financial services more or less remains in a rut and the industry as a whole, needs a shake-up. If you are like most of us ( a breathing human being ), you read the countless articles about internet start-ups and how they are changing the world. But don’t let the hype fool you.
If you seriously think adding a pool table to your breakroom will drive a shift in culture, you can can stop reading this right now. Embracing a start-up culture is about incorporating an entrepreneurial attitude, driving more collaboration, and enhancing a true sense of ownership between all the employees. Your goal is to leverage this culture so you can become a more responsive organization and be innovative and capable of pivoting quickly, as consumer needs shift. In the financial services world, your goal more specifically, should be about removing the friction in banking and helping Americans achieve more financial success and well-being. An open floor plan, a weekly happy hour, hipsters in shorts, nerf guns, ping pong tables, all are lipstick on a pig, unless you remain mission driven and consumer focused.
The idea of the millennial-led, hyper-moving, fun-loving, carefree startup has become cliché. You can’t just bottle startup culture and apply it to a financial institution. You can’t spend all your time, energy and money creating a “cool” workspace and that surely won’t be enough for you to survive. But you can motivate your team to be consumer-centric and motivated by highly satisfied consumers. A start-up culture is about passion and determination, and that is something financial services can certainly need.
A genuine startup culture starts with the mentality and passion demonstrated at the top of your organization. Your leaders must “live their business,” and that passion can then come to life in the office environment. Enthusiasm is contagious and it helps drive collaboration, which in any financial institution, is critically important. Bigger organizations always form silos, and time is often wasted trying to outdo the other division rather than uniting together. You can’t build a consumer centric organizations with silos. And you can’t build a culture of entrepreneurism if you stay hidden from view in your ivory tower.
Any startup founder will tell you that their culture means hard work and long hours. Startup founders enjoying working in teams and are innately in tune with collaborating with people and always finding ways to work smarter, not longer. It’s a necessity to survive. Every company needs to enable employees to be connected to the mission of the brand. Encourage your team to look beyond short-term, tactical projects to the big picture, and how what they do each day affects the financial institution and the customers or member. Banks and credit unions that can keep that sense of meaning, mission, and purpose in the lifeblood of the company will be strong and resilient, and have a chance to differentiate in a very commoditized industry.
Start-ups are very much about channeled energy. Every leader needs to make the time and demonstrate they care about the environment they’re building. The result will be be an engaged, satisfied and productive workforce; one that is prepared and motivated to make a difference. Company culture can make or break any organization, but it’s leaders are the ones who set the stage, as culture typically mirrors their attitudes and beliefs. If your culture is failing, or is mundane, you are the one to blame. A new ping-pong table won’t fix your culture.
