Can Others See Your Culture?

by Jonathan Jones

Visuals can help communicate and reinforce the culture so much better than an employee manual.

For example, if you want to encourage a performance culture, use charts and graphs to communicate your expectations and demonstrate employees’ progress toward those objectives. These graphs should be placed strategically around the office so people can see and talk about them. High visibility will help employees understand what is expected and connect their performance to the results measured. Sensitive measurement progress reports, again using chart and graphs, can be shown and explained with PowerPoint presentations at monthly meetings.

If you want to emphasize a certain company ethos that you deeply believe in, post a mission statement on the wall in a place where everyone can see it. Avoid using large “canned” motivational posters featuring idealized, smiling pretend-workers whistling while they work. Instead opt for well-sized, cleanly printed statements of your company values in clean fonts and place these strategically around the office where employees gather or tend to linger. Take care to spotlight employees and your customers with the occasional portrait shot and profile in the break room or near the elevator to reinforce their importance. Using your organization’s branded colors will ensure that any chart, poster, graph or other visuals will be subliminally connected to your organization.

A dress code, whether a uniform or branded clothing, can also reinforce the aspects of your desired culture and how people act within it. If you want people to remember a specific theme or tagline, use supportive graphics in all your visuals. For example, health organizations can use apples, and environmentally friendly companies can use plants, trees and clean-water symbols.

People understand visuals faster than words. The right supportive graphics can help you achieve your company’s vision goals faster than any motivational seminar.

Jonathan Jones (Jonathan.jones@vistagechair.com or 314-608-0783) is a CEO peer group chair/coach for Vistage International.