The Power of Company Culture

Chris dyer is the founder and CEO of a Company called PeopleG2 and over the years has become more and more interested in engagement and culture in the workplace. He runs a podcast called TalentTalk and has now written this book for other business owners, CEOs and HR Executives on why workplace culture matters and what you can do about it.

To begin, he takes us through why a vision, mission and values are important and what they all mean. Then the chunk of the book is then what, he thinks, are the seven pillars to culture success. These being:
1. Transparency
2. Positivity
3. Measurement
4. Acknowledgement
5. Uniqueness
6. Listening
7. Mistakes
Dyer has researched these well through this podcast, but also through his own self development reading books, case studies, attending conferences and so forth. For example, he references Carol Dweck, Simon Sinek and Stephen Covey (amongst others) who are all well known and respected in their fields.
This is not a big book, but it covers a lot of ground and I really enjoyed reading it. As a HR consultant, there were many things that were not new to me, but it was nice to have them validated ;), and then there were other examples that I made notes of as I can see how that could work with some of my clients.
I particularly loved the last line in which he reminds us to "persist". It is a reminder that culture change is very difficult and does take planned strategy and ongoing effort.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about company culture, and particularly those who can have great influence over it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

A lot is written about a company's culture and the importance of trying to get it 'right', although maybe there is a perception that it can be artificially designed and implemented just as you can change internal decoration!

The culture of a company is essential, as the author of this book notes, with it affecting both its internal and external operations. It is pervasive and even addictive. Sometimes the smallest things can set a 'spark' that ignites a larger fire or a chain reaction. This book is different though, because it does not just sing the importance of getting the culture right within a company, but it debunks myths about so-called remarkable companies and their apparent exclusive status.

Through seven pillars of 'culture success', it is possible for any company to develop a culture that is a win-win for all, claims the author, backing up theoretical and practical insight with case studies and professional commentary from many executives who have been involved in developing company culture in major companies. These seven pillars are the author's construction, being transparency, positivity, measurement, acknowledgement, uniqueness, listening and mistakes. The concept may sound on the face of it to be a little simplistic, but after reading through the book you can get a sense of the idea emerging, and its advice is not so revolutionary as to risk endangering your operations through a trial attempt. A lot of it may be just common sense, but then again common sense is often overlooked by many for some reason!

It is written for multiple audiences, so for some such as human resources personnel who may need to lead much of the change it can appear slightly simplified, but fortunately, it manages to keep the reader engaged even if they sometimes skip over 'known ground'. It seems to achieve its objectives quite well, and its price means that it is hardly going to break the bank by checking it out and seeing if you gel with it or, at the very least, get even one modification out of it rather than the desired full draw.

Occasionally it was felt that some of the language and styling started to grate like a caricatured evangelist preacher or uncontrolled-enthusiast, but then it checked itself for a while and got back onto the script. This could, of course, just be a reflection of this reviewer's own culture and response reaction. It was not a bad book, it raised some interesting points, and has the potential to lead to some change or development within your company: the size and scope of any adjustment may be based on your interpretation of the book and the capacity of the company to change!

A really interesting book on company culture, raises some interesting points - definitely a few things that make you think!