How understanding and evolving your culture will lead to future success and growth

In part one of our Hiring Strategies virtual series, hosted by Caterer.com’s Paul Rogers, we’re joined by Catherine Hunter, Head of Cultural Development at Nando’s and Sean Wheeler, BEM, FIH, People & Culture Consultant, who share their experiences and provide valuable insight on understanding your business culture and growing diversity in your workforce.

What is company culture and why does it matter?

Catherine kicked of the discussion by sharing her thoughts on what culture really means for her. ‘Culture is the microclimate that sits in the background and often goes completely unnoticed. But your business values matters because they can be an emotional energiser for your people and how good they feel about the work that they do.’

‘Developing a positive culture, and recruiting for that culture, results in happier, more engaged people with higher levels of job satisfaction and wellbeing.

The importance of values in hospitality

Many businesses struggle to identify their values – what makes them, them.

Sean agreed with Catherine and added his view that there are three solid foundations that every business should have. ‘A very simple mission, a vision and clear values – what’s the direction we’re taking and what does it look like?’

‘Values have really become important over the last 20 years in the hospitality community. We’re asking, ‘what are we doing to give back as employers? Having a strong belief in community and sustainability – organisations that do well, do their part to give back to the community, and employees pay attention to this.’

Sean continued, ‘Customers now demand this of brands, and this is what they judge, and if it aligns, then they become brand advocates, which is what every brand wants.  Brand, consumer and employee values must all be in sync.

How to define your company’s culture

Sean has worked with many hospitality businesses throughout his career to date, and believes the first step is to ask yourself, ‘what do we want to stand for, what are we, who are we, what’s going to be our DNA, how do we want our guests to feel, how do we want our colleagues to feel,’ and then create a consensus and agreement.’

‘It’s really important to have a debate within your business around values so that everyone understands them. For example, your values might be ‘warm, intuitive, distinctive, generous, and local, and every decision you make has to be linked to one of those values. Ask yourself ‘are we distinctive enough, do our values represent us, would our customers recognise us as, for example, generous and local?’ Do we give back and do people see us as a local business, do we employ people from the local area, and do they advocate our values outside of work?

Culture fit and culture add

One way to maintain and enhance your culture is to recruit people whose values and beliefs align with yours i.e. culture fit. But is there another way? Recruiting for Culture fit means hiring candidates whose mindset matches what is already working, who match the status quo.

Culture add is about recruiting people whose values align with yours but who also bring added value through differences that positively benefit your company.

Seam expanded on this, ‘Cultural add is about bringing in people to live your values, but to also challenge and bring new ideas to the table. Sometimes things can become complacent, so it’s good to have people who are passionate about what they believe in and not afraid to speak up’

‘Sometimes the best colleagues are those that are the most challenging to manage, but they add a lot of value to the business and its growth. They bring the 4E’s to the workplace – energy, an ability to energize, edge, and an ability to execute with passion.’

Catherine shared her experience of recruiting for cultural fit. ‘At Nando’s we’ve been on a journey. A few years ago, we became very tribal in our recruitment strategies and would reject people if they weren’t a good culture fit. The downside was that it started to drive homogeneous thinking’.

‘The challenge was finding a balance between inclusion and a sense of tribe/belonging. But diversity is key to driving progression and growth. It’s about creating a feeling of ‘I’ve found my people and I belong’. There’s a magic in energy and innovation-based problem solving that comes when cultures and thinking come together.’

Sean expanded on this, ‘Businesses should look to hire in line with their brand values and ensure that new hires bring additional value to the business, challenge perceptions and innovate. I think that’s why culture is so important now, we don’t want robots, we want people to bring their best selves, their personality and diversity into the workplace for the benefit of the business.’

Recruiting for future growth

Sean relayed his experiences, ‘Recruiting for growth and success is about articulating your company culture so that potential hires can clearly see if your values align.  Your culture should feel like a beacon, calling recruits to your brand.’

‘If you’re hiring people who share your values, who are a cultural fit, the technical aspects of their role are easier to teach.  Conversely it can be challenging to try and instil your values into a new hire who doesn’t already have those values.’

Catherine also backed this up. ‘We look for a growth mindset, someone who is authentic and self-aware and who believes that they aren’t the finished article, someone open to personal and professional growth, someone who will challenge the status quo as well as being aligned to our values and who is really passionate about the causes that are close to our hearts.’

Using tech to hire the right candidates for your business and values

On paper it’s not always easy to tell if a candidate has the right values and is a good cultural fit. The use of tech in recruitment is widespread and employers can access products that gauge the cultural intelligence and behaviour of candidates and identify whether a candidate is a good fit/add to their brand.

Within the Caterer.com Good & Co product, there is a personality profiling tool called the True You Report, a candidate psychometric profiling quiz specifically deigned to achieve honest responses to give a true picture of a candidate’s cultural intelligence and values. The tool then suggests interview questions, based on the insights from the report, so employers can explore candidate values in greater detail throughout the end-to-end process.

Personality quizzes are a well-established, tried and tested method, and a great example of how business can utilise tech and tools to identify a cultural match.

Sean is an advocate of using tech during the recruitment process, ‘we have always found personality and behavioural quizzes to be very helpful in identifying those synergies in company and candidate DNA.’

The challenges around sustaining culture and values

As businesses grow, cultural diversity and values can become diluted. Catherine reflected on the rapid growth of Nando’s and how it impacted their brand values.

‘We started a period of rapid growth in 2010 and our culture started to dilute; it didn’t feel the same anymore. We started to focus on the wrong things.’

Nando’s culture is inspired by an adventurous spirit and the values of Pride, Passion, Courage, Integrity and Family. Nandocas – the name for people who work at Nando’s – are like a big, extended family.

‘I started to recognise that culture is something that needs to be proactively and knowingly protected and looked after. We went through the business and asked hundreds and hundreds of Nandocas across roles and different levels of the business why Nando’s was a good place to work, why they chose Nando’s and what their experiences were.’

Does workplace culture need to evolve over time?

2020 was an opportunity for businesses to take a step back and think about their values and culture. It was a time of reflection and unexpected change, and those changes will certainly have had an impact on hospitality businesses.

Catherine continued, ‘Your business culture is a living organism, and you have to constantly review and nurture it.  Every business should be asking themselves ‘what are the things we need to unpick and the new mindsets and habits that we need to create to evolve?’

How can a diverse workplace be effectively managed?

A diverse workforce can present lots of challenges if not managed well, such as potential conflict within your business.  The benefits, however, far outweigh the challenges and make a diverse workplace a real asset.

‘By managing a diverse workforce as a group of individuals, and recognising their skills and strengths, you can achieve very positive outcomes.’ Sean commented. ‘To manage diversity, your values should weave throughout every stage of the employee journey and as an organisation you have to deliver against the promises you’re making from recruitment stage onwards.’

The benefits of a diverse workforce

By embracing diversity and evolving your business through culture add and common values, everyone benefits through shared insights, innovation and recruitment of like-minded talent.  Diverse teams are more productive, perform better and there are greater opportunities for personal and professional growth and development.

Catherine & Sean’s Top Tips for understanding and evolving your culture

You can watch the full webinar here