Pete Blank extolls importance of company culture at Chamber luncheon

For many professionals, the phrase "company culture" conjures up images of workplace ping pong tables or break room snacks. Same may envision the colorful workplaces of Silicon Valley, where Facebook and Google employees work at uniquely-shaped desks or play video games at 3 in the afternoon.

But company culture is about much more, management professional Pete Blank said at the September Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Blank, who serves as the training manager for the Jefferson County Personnel Board and travels the country teaching managers how to better run their companies, revisited his 2016 appearance at the chamber luncheon where he spoke about roaches, and said that one of the topics he didn't get get into at the last meeting — company culture — continues to be a popular discussion topic among managers and professionals.

Blank challenged the business leaders at the luncheon to think of their own company culture, and attempt to define it.

"A lot of us go through our work days and we've got to hit numbers, or we've got to hit budgets or we've got to hit finances, we've got things coming up ... culture's a huge part of that," he said.

A common trap, he said, is many managers say their company culture is the company's vision, or the mission statement. And while those things are important, Blank said, a culture is a much bigger thing.

"The culture is what exists beyond that on a regular basis," he said.

Every interaction with employees, Blank said, is either building or eroding trust — and is creating a culture for better or worse.

If a manager does not work to build a culture, he said, employees will build one naturally. And while employees should be in on the process, many times these types of cultures prove to cause a drop in productivity, high attrition and turnover rates and general dissatisfaction on the part of the workforce.

Blank said that business leaders can choose to respond to his topic in one of three ways: in an autocratic way where the manager comes in and tries to forcefully change employee behavior, in an indifferent way where the manager brushes off the issue and says "it is what it is," or by taking ownership of the company culture and treating a business in a relational way, focusing on building relationships and connections with employees.

"You have to drive the culture, and successful companies like Disney, like Ritz-Carlton, like Southwest ... the big boys base it on relationships," he said.

"Yes, it's a job. Yes it's hard work. But [employees] don't feel like a number," he added.

Being relationship-focused and owning a company culture doesn't mean not having organization or being "huggy-huggy," he said, but rather it means using processes and protocols at all levels to drive the culture intentionally.

Blank suggested managers look to establish their company culture in areas such as office environment, work output expectations, team dynamics, communication, standards and each managers personal management style.

But above all, he said, creating a company culture has to be a focused effort on the part of leaders.

For those looking to learn more from Blank, he suggested following his weekly video blog by texting "ROACH" to 66866.