Corporate Culture Is Suddenly The "Real Deal"
It used to frustrate me that most leaders didn't take "corporate culture" seriously. They saw culture as a "soft" issue that managers exercised little or no control over. Today corporate culture is increasingly being seen as the key to success in more and more organizations.

Take Google, the Internet search giant. This eight-year-old company has grown tremendously; Google's workforce has tripled to 9,000 employees while the company's revenue has skyrocketed to more than $2.6 billion. Much of the credit for Google's success has been attributed to their corporate culture, which was designed to foster innovation. Through a combination of perks, unique workspace design and ingenious work policies, Google encourages extremely high levels of performance and creativity from it's people.

In a recent article (Google's Corporate Culture Strives To Breed Innovation by Sara Kehaulani Goo, Washington Post) Google's product management director, Richard Holden, said, "If you're not failing enough, you're not trying hard enough. The stigma [for failure] is less because we staff projects leanly and encourage them to just move, move, move. If it doesn't work, move on."

Now, that's true VEO thinking ... encouraging employees to actually risk failure in order to stimulate innovation. Those are the organizations that will flourish in today's tough, highly competitive climate. Culture is the key to motivating and retaining talented employees.

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"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations." -- Steve Jobs

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Do You Have What It Takes To Build A VEO Culture? (Take our quiz and find out)
There's no question that culture can be elusive. For most organization's, culture is a complex combination of traditions, terms, beliefs, policies, procedures and relationships. Your company's culture is unquestionably real, even if it can be sometimes hard to pin down. So exactly how DO you put your finger on the variables that define corporate culture? What are the critical elements that contribute to a healthy, vibrant entrepreneurial organization?

Our new Quiz on Productive Workplaces is a handy way to identify which factors may be influencing your organization's culture. This free quiz can give you insights into secrets for engaging employees, setting goals, teamwork, employee perceptions and many other matters. For example, which of the following do you believe will create a goal-oriented culture?

1. Driving employees to meet and exceed quotas and continually raising the bar.
2. Allowing your employees to take calculated risks.
3. Continuing to do what you have been doing, because it's gotten you to where you are.

Your attitudes and perceptions, combined with the attitudes and perceptions of your people could make all the difference between a culture that thrives and a culture that struggles. To get a handle on the key issues, visit http://www.keygroupconsulting.com/nuequiz/quiz.php?quiz=1.

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"Culture is the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being." -- Thomas Carlyle

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What's The Lowdown On Your Company's Culture?
While your awareness of corporate culture is a good jumping off point, many times you need a much more in-depth analysis to understand where your particular organization is strong and where it may need further strengthening. In our work with a diverse collection of client companies over the past few years, KEYGroup has developed some exciting techniques for helping leaders get a handle on the culture of their own organizations. Our Corporate Culture Survey is a powerful way to initiate change.

After all, you can't pinpoint your organization's culture by looking at walls, desks, meeting rooms and cubicles. You can't generally grasp culture by asking employees generic questions. You have to dig into specific issues, like productivity, loyalty, communication, innovation, and quality. How do your employees feel about these and other workplace excellence criteria? How do your people rate these factors, which are critical to employee satisfaction and performance? They say that information is power and surveying your team around the issues of culture is the best way I know to power your organization to higher levels of achievement.

In our experience, many of our clients have scored impressive results with the Corporate Culture Survey, including improved employee relations, productivity improvements, better training support, and enhanced customer service, all leading to reduced costs and increased profitability. To find how you can gain invaluable insights through our corporate culture survey, visit http://www.keygroupconsulting.com/veo_survey.htm or call Dr. Jan Ferri-Reed at 1-800-456-579