The importance of your startup’s culture is undeniable: A Columbia University study shows job turnover at organizations with rich cultures is much lower than those with poor cultures. But installing the right culture is the big challenge — and it’s certainly not a plug-and-play affair.
When it comes to building a company culture, it’s awfully tempting for entrepreneurs to look at businesses such as Google and Zappos for inspiration — two brands universally lauded for their big, bright workspaces and happy employees.
What tends to happen, though, is leaders only remember the superficial aspects of these cultures; not their holistic systems and values. They read about free lunches, beer kegs, Ping-Pong tables and unlimited vacation time, but they have no idea why these specific things make sense for those companies.
