At SnapCab, the values that build our company’s immune system are straightforward: Be kind, be authentic, and be useful.
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When your organization reaches a certain size, you start formalizing the values that you hold dear. At SnapCab, our values are straightforward: Be kind, be authentic, and be useful. They help create the company culture we want and serve as guiding principles when we bring in someone new. It’s worked out well thus far, and we hope other companies and organizations will adopt them.
But there are elements in your company that can put pressure on those principles. And when that happens, your company culture is put to the test. Will it survive, crumble away to be changed into something new, or be abandoned completely?
If you want to stave off heading in a bad direction, your solution is similar to what the human body has when it needs to push back infections: Activate an immune system.
The Importance of Maintenance
There are some business owners who don’t see the importance of having a well-functioning company culture. For them, profit is the key, or maybe ensuring everyone does their work on time. But in the end, every company has a culture, whether they like it or not. Consciously establishing one is better than letting it happen in the background, because it lets you shape it as needed.
Once you do have this culture established, it becomes a tool and driver for your company’s success. Employees want to work at a place that supports them and aligns with their own personal values. By doing upkeep and maintenance on your company culture, everyone works better together as a result, and that helps ensure your company thrives.
Healing In Action
The first line of defense is your hiring practices. Hire for culture fit as well as you can. If building your company’s team goes according to plan, then you’ll do just fine. However, there always seems to be a fly in the ointment, and for that, you need a way to fix the issue.
In our company, we think about the business the way we think about the human body. The brain is the CEO, the nervous system is communication, and so on. But to counter those viruses that get in—like employees who don’t fit with the culture or other problems—we look to our immune system, specifically the PIP.
PIP stands for Performance Improvement Program, and we are by no means the first organization to use them. PIPs are fairly common, but in our case, we look at them a bit differently. If an employee doesn’t align with our company’s values or principles, we give them a PIP. But now this is an opportunity for their manager to become the white blood cells in the immune system. They can help guide the employee down the right path within the ninety-day period.
Once that time is up, just like with a cold or virus, you have one of two different results: Things get better, or things get worse. If they’re better, then the employee has realigned themselves with our company’s values and principles, and you can move forward. But if not, then the employee is released. In both cases, the body—our company—heals.
Getting Better Every Day
Every infection that hits our bodies and is repelled or fixed by our immune system makes us stronger. This same concept works with our company as well. It’s not always easy, and sometimes there are spots where we could have done better. But in the end, we improve ourselves, and that’s just as important.
We have, and will continue to, develop a culture of understanding, training, and guidance here at SnapCab, because we know that when we follow our values, we all succeed. We don’t give out PIPs lightly, and we don’t think other companies should, either. But when an infection does hit the body, it’s important to find the solution and fix it. Otherwise, your business just might end up with an illness that can’t be cured.
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