By Bethany Parker, CEO, and Julie Bordman, Fractional Chief Human Resource Officer

When your company grows, it’s natural to want to hang on. It’s human nature to want stability amid change. When it comes to your company culture, keeping some aspects in place may ground the team so it can simultaneously grow, improve, and evolve. As Peter Drucker suggests: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Let’s explore.

Recommit to Your Core Values

Assuming they are good for today and solid for tomorrow, keep your core values front and center as you grow. Typically, existing companies have strong core values in place; if not, pre-growth is the time to create them. You know they are good core values when:

• They articulate your “why.”
• They move the organization forward, truly supporting your vision and mission.
  They are known and celebrated within your organization.
• They tug at the heartstrings and inspire.
• You use them to make decisions for the team, the customers, and the business.

Strengthen Your Employee Feedback Loop

Openness to different work styles is the start of a strong feedback loop. Using tools like the DiSC Profile can break down the diversity of behavioral styles in the whole workforce and “help everyone in your workplace communicate more effectively, work together more productively, and become positive, energetic contributors.” You know you have a strong employee feedback loop when:

• The rumor mill does not exist; rather, open conversations regularly occur in chat groups, all-hands meetings, break rooms, etc.
• There is no third-party feedback, only direct conversations.
• Employees at all levels candidly share issues and concerns in real-time and are in the spirit of resolution and improvement.
• Employees ask good questions that reveal hidden issues or concerns and offer answers to get over those road bumps.

Kathryn Minshew said it best perhaps: “Understanding your employee’s perspective can go a long way towards increasing productivity and happiness.”

Evolve and Clarify Roles and Responsibilities

Newer companies can sometimes resemble open swim time at public pools on a hot summer day: lots of fun but organized chaos. As you grow, you must erect swim lanes to give employees clear roles and responsibilities. Just a little bit of structure here can really support growth. Beyond roles, it is imperative to empower the team to make changes on the spot with regular clarity and alignment with tools like the RAPID decision-making framework. Some symptoms of organized chaos may be:

• Multiple people doing the same job.
• Decision-making bottlenecks caused by people wearing too many hats.
• A few are empowered, but not the majority of the staff.
• Lack of consistent process for resolution when issues arise.
  Overall inefficiencies.

Accelerate Your Organizational Learning

In the words of American author and orator John C. Maxwell, “Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward.” Be intentional and proactive about inspiring the team to learn fast or fail fast, thereby eventually succeeding more quickly than not. The growth game is fueled by team learning and a growth mindset. Mature the team’s ability to learn faster than the competition. Some symptoms that may indicate slower learning include:

• Inability to bridge time zones and distance. Hybrid and remote companies must connect people without geographical advantage.
  Inability to bridge generation gaps on the team. Companies must find common ground on which to align the whole workforce.
• Lack of clarity on the North Star or vision for the company.
• There is a lack of buy-in to the strategic business plan, which includes both the cultural plan and the people plan. Strategic plans should include road maps of where the team is, where they are headed, and how they will get there.

Boost Leadership Abilities

The manager-employee relationship is everything at this phase. People may aspire to lead yet lack know-how. Many confuse management and leadership, and both are necessary for company growth. You need the blocking and tackling (hiring, firing, weekly standups, quarterly reviews) and the softer skills (inspiring others, cultivating a growth mindset, resilience in the face of adversity). Some symptoms of weak leadership skills on the team might include:

• Team members are unclear on the vision, expectations, or goals.
• Managers are reluctant to make decisions.
• Managers attempt to control aspects of the team’s work rather than delegating tasks.
• They offer little or no acknowledgment of or reward for team members’ efforts and achievements.
• Underlying resentment or low morale exists on the team as the result of a lack of accountability.

Marshall Goldman’s sentiments ring true: “What got you here, won’t get you there.” As you grow and scale, keep in mind the team that got you to where you are today is likely not the same team that will get you to your next major milestone. With a clear assessment of your current culture, you can decide how best to retain the right aspects and evolve any areas of need. You may discover there’s more upside potential when you emphasize growing more than keeping your culture.