Does commercial growth mean putting aside your business culture and values?
Let’s go back a few years to when you had just started your business. There were probably only a handful of you with the same shared passion and zest.
Those were the days when everyone remembered each other’s birthdays, coffee orders, or shared a common go-to song.
You didn’t need an appointment to meet your boss; you could just walk into their office and express your ideas. Decisions were made in minutes. It was a time when the company vibe was not something you wrote and pinned to the noticeboard; you just wore it around.
Fast forward to a few years down the line. The business is growing, and so is the team. And all of a sudden, you feel that things have changed.
Of course, your business should be changing. That’s how you get to the next big thing.
But when there is suddenly a sea of strangers around you, it can be hard to feel positive about it. No more casual talks. No more PowerPoint Fridays. No more sounds of roaring laughter.
Amongst all the seriousness, you might wonder if the once-friendly office culture has taken a backseat for the better or the worse. Yes, growth is exciting, but there is an underlying threat to one of your biggest assets: the company culture.
The challenge: scaling without losing your soul
Fortunately, or unfortunately, growth comes at a price: some classic side effects. Why?
Three core reasons have been identified:
- Rapid hiring, which almost feels like speed dating
- New systems and processes that can make things more bureaucratic than brilliant
- And worst of all, cultural dilution. With new people, new systems and processes, your original values start to get diluted.
It all starts gradually. New hires come on board, and they fail to get the inside jokes. With new teams and team leaders, most teams start working in silos. Employees who have been around since the start are often heard lamenting the loss of that family-like environment. “What happened?” old-timers wonder, including you.
While you were focused on the numbers, your business has been experiencing a cultural identity crisis. The outcome? A subtle attack on employee morale, especially those who have been part of the early days.
A lack of culture also impacts employee productivity, collaboration, and customer experiences. The team is working in almost a bot mode, driven by targets and more targets and less connected to company values.
Let’s not forget that when employees are more bot than human, customer experiences are sure to be adversely impacted.
How to protect your culture while you grow?
There is no doubt that your business needs to grow and scale up.
All we’re saying is that scaling doesn’t have to result in selling your cultural soul to the corporate devil….so to speak.
If protecting the original business culture is a top priority for you, here's how to hold onto it. Is it worth it? Yes, of course, because this business is yours and it should rightfully be an extension of you.
Define your culture (like, just write it down)
Start small, aim big. Begin by defining your business culture and simply (we meant it!) document it.
What is business culture? It is how your team behaves when no one is watching. It is shared beliefs and values. It is the unspoken rule that subtly shapes your business.
If you keep your business culture as an unspoken ‘vibe’ and hope everyone picks it up, there is a high chance that it will start to dilute faster than anything else.
So, you need to document it. Sort of like a business personality cheat sheet.
There are no rules for documentation, though! Use one-liners. Keep it clear. Use emojis, metaphors, jokes, or anything that feels like you.
Prioritize cultural fit when hiring
If that was too verbose, we mean, “hire people who vibe with your tribe!”
When your business is growing fast, it is tempting to hire fast as well. But that can also be the quickest way to erode the culture.
Instead, when hiring, focus on candidates' mindsets. Beyond the CV, ask candidates questions like, “What is your ideal work environment?” or “How do you resolve a disagreement at work?”
The answers need to be assessed to understand who can fit with the culture easily, rather than being an unwilling saboteur.
Strong onboarding & leadership role-modelling
The onboarding period for your new hires should not be about teaching them what to do. It should focus on the ‘how to do’ in your business. These first few weeks are like the “meeting and getting to know the family” stage of a relationship.
The bottom line is that when onboarding, remember that your culture has to be carried forward by these new hires. Onboard accordingly. Share your company's folklore. Let them understand the ‘why’ behind the values. Pair them with an old-timer as a culture buddy.
Bonus Tip: Create a fun culture-centric onboarding kit. Include references to popular culture (read: fun memes), Spotify playlists, and other items that allow the new hires to feel the atmosphere out, and not just read a boring pamphlet about it.
Identify leaders and make them your culture carriers
Let the seniors in the team take on the role of becoming your culture beacons. Even if they have joined the team late, let the leadership team be a living example of these values.
For example: If ‘empathy and kindness’ is a value, stress that your leaders must be gracious when giving and receiving feedback.
Here’s a smart tip: make sure to celebrate leaders who walk the talk. Put them into the spotlight—feature them in the internal newsletters, shoutouts on Slack, organise team huddles, and so on.
Communications should be open and two-way
As a business grows, you often start to broadcast rather than communicate. That is a big mistake. Culture is not static and certainly not something you should be dictating to others.
It is something that should evolve and, therefore, needs co-creation.
To follow the path of open communication, try a monthly ‘Culture check-in'. Conduct it for ten minutes every month: a stand-up where anyone can share ideas, feedback, a shoutout, just about anything!
Other ways for two-way communication are creating forums for feedback, town halls, pulse surveys, and so on.
The Invisible Glue: 7 Culture Codes to Scale Without Losing Your Soul
When your business is ready to scale, it becomes more important to retain your culture. It is prudent to note that culture doesn't vanish—it just gets quiet. It turns understated and invisible, but it is still the glue that keeps your people together. Without culture, the machine breaks down; with culture, everything hums.
Here are 7 Culture Codes that can help set the tone of your growth narrative.
1. Rituals Beat Rules
Forget rulebooks. Teams do not unite for a policy; they mobilise behind the cultural rhythm. The tip is to create small, sure habits that last longer than org charts.
Think: a Monday morning "vibe check" or a Friday wall of wins. Culture appears where consistency resides.
2. Culture Needs Champions, Not Just Managers
Assigning culture ambassadors at every level can help keep the mojo going. These ambassadors have clearance to wave the flag or ring the alarm when something doesn't feel right.
3. Language Builds Worlds
Words create worlds. The way your team speaks becomes how they think. Develop common parlance—whether it's "co-solving" rather than "escalating" or inside jokes your team understands, but others don't. Culture lives through the words we say.
4. Audit the Soul
Every six months, take a break and ask yourself:
What's still working in the organisation?
- What's dying?
- What needs a spark?
Culture is not a set-it-and-forget-it—it's a garden. You need to nurture it constantly.
5. Build a Digital Campfire
Your Slack, Notion, or Teams environment is the office in a hybrid or virtual universe. Curate it like a space people want to hang out in rather than clock in.
6. KPIs, Meet Culture
If it matters, measure it. Include one cultural metric in your team's KPIs, such as shoutouts for peer recognition or several cross-team collaborations. Culture comes alive when it's measured.
7. Leaders Cast Long Shadows
Culture isn't passed down, it's reflected out. Leaders set the tone in the smallest moments. Every meeting, message, and micro-moment is a mirror. Want your values to stick? Live them out loud.
Culture doesn't show up with fanfare—it's built in the quiet moments daily.
In conclusion: Scale smart—growth with culture wins long-term
Business growth is crucial. And so is the culture!
Don’t treat culture as a piece of ornament that’s nice to have and show off.
Rather, make it the reason for the best talent to stay back with you. This will be the reason for your customers to stay loyal.
Needless to say, when you have the best employees and loyal customers, your business is sure to grow.
Want more tips for growing your business smartly? Smart Moves by Tally provides insights, checklists, and tools to get there. We’ll help you crack that often-undecipherable code to success.
