Michael Casparij
September 2, 2020

Culture as a foundation for future growth

Corporate culture has for many years been seen as a fluffy phenomenon that hasn't really been taken seriously, but several studies have shown that culture and well-being affect both employee engagement and performance. Something that has a major impact on the growth and development of a company.

It’s no longer enough to just look at employee engagement. If it really matters for the bottom line, it’s culture and well-being that need to be addressed. According to Michael Casparij, CEO and business consultant at Casparij, culture is the foundation of everything in business because businesses are run by people. So what exactly is culture, why is it important to keep in mind if you want a growing company and what kind of culture requires development? We talked to Michael Casparij about this here. Finduddannelse.dk has done an interview with me about my view on culture and the importance of working with it continuously.

How does culture affect growth?

At Casparij, their work has a special focus on culture and how it promotes business growth.
According to Michael Casparij, culture is particularly important because it is also part of the branding foundation of the company.
“As consumers, we want to be able to mirror ourselves in the product or experience we consume, so the culture behind it must also be crystal clear so that it can be quickly decoded:

“I’ve read a lot about a professor and psychologist from the US called Amy Cuddy, who has done some research into what happens when people meet each other. It’s that we quickly decode the answer to two questions: Do I have trust and respect? It’s the same thing that happens when people look at a brand from the outside. Do I trust this brand? Do I respect the way they act? Do I want to be part of that universe?” explains Michael Casparij.

In addition to shining through through branding, culture also has a huge impact on employee wellbeing and thus their productivity and commitment to the company.
Something that has a huge impact on a company’s growth and development potential.
This means that employees who thrive are more productive because they understand the values they work by.
They can see the meaning in their work,” says Michael Casparij:

“When I say that culture is the foundation for growth, it’s because I believe that we can’t create growth out of nothing. We can create growth if we know that we have employee well-being, which helps create the good customer relationships that give us the foundation for growth. So my approach to companies that ask for my help is to start with culture.”

Culture must be lived in the workplace

In many companies, Michael Casparij experiences that culture has not been put into words and that it is often taken for granted.
In this way, culture becomes a passive entity where values are left in a drawer, instead of something that is constantly evolving and lived in everyday life.

Culture is all about the company being clear about who they are, how they do things and what their purpose is.
Getting this right lays the foundation for growth and development.
For Michael Casparij, it’s especially important to have the whole company on board, because all levels need to know what value they bring to the table.
He explains this with an example:

“An example could be a hotel where you see the beautiful pictures on social media or they communicate about their delicious brunch, rooms or view. If I walk in the door of such a hotel and get the impression that the floor is dirty, the receptionist is angry, the waiter doesn’t see me, and the pool is dirty, I don’t get that experience – it shows that the culture is not genuine – in terms of what you communicate. So you have to work on the culture, whether you’re housekeeping, sales person or waiter. Everyone plays a role in delivering the product and experience you promise your customers. There has to be congruence between what you say and what you do.”

It is therefore important that all employees understand the purpose behind their task and can see the meaning in a larger perspective, and how their particular task contributes to the company as a whole creating a unique experience.
For this to happen, culture needs to be communicated, told and lived by all employees, and for Michael Casparij, the last one is especially important, because if we don’t live it, it dies.
If the company isn’t growing and moving, it means it’s stagnant and ultimately winding down.

It's about fine-tuning culture - not changing it

According to Michael Casparij, culture is basically habits and behaviors, both good and bad, that we should be aware of so that it can be communicated and not taken for granted.

A bad habit – and thus culture – can be meeting discipline; if someone is always late for a meeting, you could call it an inappropriate behavior, because it actually means that the person is wasting everyone else’s time for that meeting, and if it happens every time, it adds up to a lot of minutes over a year.

According to Michael Casparij, other bad habits that create bad culture are when employees are no longer curious about others’ opinions because they see something as right and wrong.
This also means that behind a good culture lies both curiosity and recognition.
By being curious about the value of other people’s statements or opinions, or the angle on an issue, there is suddenly a lot of good energy.

“If we’re not good at recognizing each other, it’s also very descriptive of a bad culture. Where a manager just takes for granted that employees shouldn’t be recognized because “they’re just doing their job”.
The reality is that all people need recognition, to hear that what we do is good and that we contribute something.
That’s what we grow from and build energy from, and that’s what needs to be passed on to the brand so that customers want to be a part of it,” explains Michael Casparij.

For Michael Casparij, it’s important not to go in and change everything in a company when it comes to culture, because of course it has to be close to the core, and often it’s only very small adjustments that are needed to give completely new and better results.