The CEO’s Complete Guide to Building a Culture of Success

The CEO’s Complete Guide to Building a Culture of Success

The CEO’s Complete Guide to Building a Culture of Success

Did you know more than a third of U.S. workers are willing to pass on the perfect job if company culture isn’t a good fit? The majority of employees also say they prioritize company culture over salary.


A healthy culture isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a business imperative. But it’s not just a win for employees and HR; it’s a win for business leaders, too.


Companies with positive workplace cultures are more profitable and innovative than their counterparts.


Did you know more than a third of U.S. workers are willing to pass on the perfect job if company culture isn’t a good fit? The majority of employees also say they prioritize company culture over salary.


A healthy culture isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a business imperative. But it’s not just a win for employees and HR; it’s a win for business leaders, too.


Companies with positive workplace cultures are more profitable and innovative than their counterparts.

An innovative culture fuels revenue growth - Data
An innovative culture fuels revenue growth - Data
An innovative culture fuels revenue growth - Data
An innovative culture fuels revenue growth - Data

Employees are looking for culture-first leaders—leaders who care about and actively participate in culture building.


However, culture isn’t about free snacks or ping pong tables. Culture is the invisible hand that shapes behaviors, decisions, and overall performance within a company. It’s the collective ethos that drives employees to go the extra mile, think creatively, and collaborate effectively.


Exceptional leaders create and sustain a culture that engages and motivates their employees and spurs them to achieve the results that push the company forward.


In this guide, we dive into why a focus on culture is key for today’s leaders and how you can build a culture of success at your company.

Employees are looking for culture-first leaders—leaders who care about and actively participate in culture building.


However, culture isn’t about free snacks or ping pong tables. Culture is the invisible hand that shapes behaviors, decisions, and overall performance within a company. It’s the collective ethos that drives employees to go the extra mile, think creatively, and collaborate effectively.


Exceptional leaders create and sustain a culture that engages and motivates their employees and spurs them to achieve the results that push the company forward.


In this guide, we dive into why a focus on culture is key for today’s leaders and how you can build a culture of success at your company.


The Building Blocks of Culture

To build a culture of success, leaders must clearly define and consistently reinforce their mission, vision, and values. This goes beyond setting rules and expectations to creating an environment where these values are lived daily. Engaged, transparent, and aligned teams are key to this strong, durable culture.


How?

To build a culture of success, leaders must clearly define and consistently reinforce their mission, vision, and values. This goes beyond setting rules and expectations to creating an environment where these values are lived daily. Engaged, transparent, and aligned teams are key to this strong, durable culture.


How?


Engagement drives performance

Employee engagement is a direct result of a strong culture, leading to higher productivity, better customer service, and lower turnover. Bottom line: Engaged employees are emotionally invested in the company's success.


According to Gallup's most recent employee engagement analysis, businesses scoring in the top quartile on employee engagement saw the following benefits when compared with bottom-quartile teams:


Results of high employee engagement - Data
Results of high employee engagement - Data
Results of high employee engagement - Data
Results of high employee engagement - Data

Transparency is key to trust and satisfaction


Transparency is key to trust and satisfaction


Transparency is key to trust and satisfaction

Results of high-trust workplaces - Data
Results of high-trust workplaces - Data
Results of high-trust workplaces - Data
Results of high-trust workplaces - Data

Transparency builds trust and enhances accountability, results, and creativity. High-trust workplaces—workplaces that prioritize open communication and constructive feedback—see 29% greater satisfaction and 76% higher engagement among employees, according to a Harvard Business Review study.


Alignment boosts efficiency

Alignment ensures that everyone is working toward the same goals, fostering a sense of unity and reducing inefficiencies. When employees share a purpose and understand their individual role in achieving the company's broader objectives, they are more motivated and empowered to work on the same team and achieve their goals together.

Alignment ensures that everyone is working toward the same goals, fostering a sense of unity and reducing inefficiencies. When employees share a purpose and understand their individual role in achieving the company's broader objectives, they are more motivated and empowered to work on the same team and achieve their goals together.


The Secret to Culture Building: A Culture Team

Culture building is a team effort and it requires time, effort, and commitment across the organization. Identifying a culture team to help you build, maintain, and promote your culture is key.

Your company is most successful when everyone on the team is aligned with the same goals and objectives. A CSP provides a robust goal-setting framework, coupling methodologies like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and 1-on-1s, a proven approach pioneered by Intel and evangelized by John Doerr, author of Measure What Matters. 

OKRs are very powerful tools. They make company goals transparent, enabling everyone who works there to see where the company is headed and participate in figuring out how to get there. This helps ensure that your culture remains focused and consistent at every level. When leadership actively reinforces this transparency, it helps maintain a unified message and a standard of behavior that aligns with the company’s goals and values. Performance becomes a shared objective, ensuring everyone is working toward common, outcome-focused goals.

By implementing a CSP to create alignment with strategic objectives, you ensure every element of your business reinforces your core values and vision. This encourages team members to share ideas openly, push boundaries, and take calculated risks, helping to build an organization-wide stretch mentality that tackles challenges creatively and effectively.


What is a culture team?

A culture team is typically comprised of three to five individuals from various departments and plays a crucial role in shaping and promoting a company's values to create a sense of belonging and align employee behavior with the organization's goals.


Yes, they can also coordinate happy hours and events, but there’s much more to it than that. It's a fun but important responsibility.

A culture team is typically comprised of three to five individuals from various departments and plays a crucial role in shaping and promoting a company's values to create a sense of belonging and align employee behavior with the organization's goals.


Yes, they can also coordinate happy hours and events, but there’s much more to it than that. It's a fun but important responsibility.


Who makes up the culture team?

  • CEO: Provides leadership and ensures alignment with company strategy.

  • HR representative: Brings expertise in employee engagement and development.

  • Department representatives: Offer diverse perspectives and ensure cross-functional collaboration.

  • CEO: Provides leadership and ensures alignment with company strategy.

  • HR representative: Brings expertise in employee engagement and development.

  • Department representatives: Offer diverse perspectives and ensure cross-functional collaboration.


What are the culture team’s responsibilities?

  • Develop and implement culture plans and initiatives: This involves creating a plan and budget that fits your company. The plan might include creating or optimizing recruiting and onboarding programs, organizing internal and external team-building activities, conducting departmental and company-wide meetings to ensure employees are heard, promoting company-wide recognition programs, and more.

  • Measure and evaluate culture: The team should track key metrics such as employee engagement, satisfaction, and turnover to assess the effectiveness of their initiatives.

  • Implement culture frameworks: A culture team will roll out engagement and alignment programs such as employee shoutouts, feedback forms, surveys, and OKRs.

  • Communicate culture effectively: The team should regularly communicate company values, culture initiatives, and employee stories to reinforce the importance of culture to the organization.

  • Develop and implement culture plans and initiatives: This involves creating a plan and budget that fits your company. The plan might include creating or optimizing recruiting and onboarding programs, organizing internal and external team-building activities, conducting departmental and company-wide meetings to ensure employees are heard, promoting company-wide recognition programs, and more.

  • Measure and evaluate culture: The team should track key metrics such as employee engagement, satisfaction, and turnover to assess the effectiveness of their initiatives.

  • Implement culture frameworks: A culture team will roll out engagement and alignment programs such as employee shoutouts, feedback forms, surveys, and OKRs.

  • Communicate culture effectively: The team should regularly communicate company values, culture initiatives, and employee stories to reinforce the importance of culture to the organization.


Why is a culture team important?

While the CEO plays an active role in the culture team, the broader group assumes responsibility for culture management, allowing you and other company leaders to focus on strategic priorities. By furthering company culture, a culture team can contribute to:

  • Increased employee engagement: When employees feel like they are part of a team that values their contributions, they are more likely to be engaged in their work.

  • Improved productivity: A strong team culture can lead to increased productivity by creating a more positive and collaborative work environment. 

  • Enhanced innovation: When employees feel comfortable taking risks and sharing their ideas, they are more likely to identify new and innovative solutions. 

  • Improved customer satisfaction: A positive team culture can improve customer experience, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

While the CEO plays an active role in the culture team, the broader group assumes responsibility for culture management, allowing you and other company leaders to focus on strategic priorities. By furthering company culture, a culture team can contribute to:

  • Increased employee engagement: When employees feel like they are part of a team that values their contributions, they are more likely to be engaged in their work.

  • Improved productivity: A strong team culture can lead to increased productivity by creating a more positive and collaborative work environment. 

  • Enhanced innovation: When employees feel comfortable taking risks and sharing their ideas, they are more likely to identify new and innovative solutions. 

  • Improved customer satisfaction: A positive team culture can improve customer experience, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.


How to Build a Culture Team

Creating a culture team is easier than you might think. By identifying the right people for the team, setting expectations and creating incentives, and empowering them to be culture leaders, you can trust that your culture is in the right hands.

Here’s your guide to building a culture team.

Creating a culture team is easier than you might think. By identifying the right people for the team, setting expectations and creating incentives, and empowering them to be culture leaders, you can trust that your culture is in the right hands.

Here’s your guide to building a culture team.


Step 1: Identify your culture champions

Choosing the right people for this team is imperative. Identify a small group of ultra-engaged employees who are passionate about creating a positive and productive work environment. We call these people your culture champions.

Your culture champions are smart, humble “doers.” They are natural people leaders, gifted at motivating their fellow employees, living out your vision for the company, and mobilizing a culture of success. 

They share common traits:

  • Smart and creative thinkers: Individuals who are both smart and creative ensure that your company can innovate and solve complex problems. These employees bring fresh perspectives and can think outside the box, driving continuous improvement and staying ahead of the competition.

  • Humble team players: Humility in the workplace fosters collaboration and learning. Humble employees are more open to feedback, willing to learn from others, and are effective team players. They contribute to a positive work environment and help build a culture of mutual respect and continuous growth.

  • “Doers” who are biased toward action: In a fast-paced business environment, action-oriented individuals are invaluable. These "doers" have a natural inclination toward taking initiative and delivering results. They strike a balance between thoughtful analysis and decisive action, ensuring that projects move forward without unnecessary delays.

Choosing the right people for this team is imperative. Identify a small group of ultra-engaged employees who are passionate about creating a positive and productive work environment. We call these people your culture champions.

Your culture champions are smart, humble “doers.” They are natural people leaders, gifted at motivating their fellow employees, living out your vision for the company, and mobilizing a culture of success. 

They share common traits:

  • Smart and creative thinkers: Individuals who are both smart and creative ensure that your company can innovate and solve complex problems. These employees bring fresh perspectives and can think outside the box, driving continuous improvement and staying ahead of the competition.

  • Humble team players: Humility in the workplace fosters collaboration and learning. Humble employees are more open to feedback, willing to learn from others, and are effective team players. They contribute to a positive work environment and help build a culture of mutual respect and continuous growth.

  • “Doers” who are biased toward action: In a fast-paced business environment, action-oriented individuals are invaluable. These "doers" have a natural inclination toward taking initiative and delivering results. They strike a balance between thoughtful analysis and decisive action, ensuring that projects move forward without unnecessary delays.


Step 2: Incentivize, communicate value, and set expectations

Once you’ve identified your culture champions, invite them to participate in your culture team. Explain the value they bring to the company and the value they can bring to this special group.


Set clear expectations—communicate the time commitment, the responsibilities of the group, and what you expect from each team member who participates. Make sure they understand how valuable this group is to the company's success.


This will be extra time and work for them; incentivize them to participate with something valuable like a stipend or additional paid time off.

Once you’ve identified your culture champions, invite them to participate in your culture team. Explain the value they bring to the company and the value they can bring to this special group.


Set clear expectations—communicate the time commitment, the responsibilities of the group, and what you expect from each team member who participates. Make sure they understand how valuable this group is to the company's success.


This will be extra time and work for them; incentivize them to participate with something valuable like a stipend or additional paid time off.


Step 3: Dedicate the appropriate resources

To empower your culture team and ensure their success, it's essential to provide the necessary resources. Support them effectively with:

  • Budget: Allocate a budget to fund initiatives, events, and activities that promote a positive workplace culture. Ensure the budget is sufficient to cover costs of materials, external speakers, workshops, and any other necessary expenses.

  • Technology: A comprehensive culture platform can provide a centralized hub for managing all aspects of culture building, from employee eNPS and engagement surveys to event management, knowledge sharing, and team alignment tracking.

  • Training: Offer training sessions on team building, event planning, leadership, and other relevant skills. Provide access to resources and workshops that focus on cultural competency, diversity and inclusion, and employee engagement strategies.

  • Backing from leadership: Ensure visible support and endorsement from managers and senior leadership to emphasize the importance of the team’s work.

To empower your culture team and ensure their success, it's essential to provide the necessary resources. Support them effectively with:

  • Budget: Allocate a budget to fund initiatives, events, and activities that promote a positive workplace culture. Ensure the budget is sufficient to cover costs of materials, external speakers, workshops, and any other necessary expenses.

  • Technology: A comprehensive culture platform can provide a centralized hub for managing all aspects of culture building, from employee eNPS and engagement surveys to event management, knowledge sharing, and team alignment tracking.

  • Training: Offer training sessions on team building, event planning, leadership, and other relevant skills. Provide access to resources and workshops that focus on cultural competency, diversity and inclusion, and employee engagement strategies.

  • Backing from leadership: Ensure visible support and endorsement from managers and senior leadership to emphasize the importance of the team’s work.


Step 4: Create a plan with measurable milestones or outcomes

Hold an initial meeting with the group and discuss your culture goals. Identify the top three goals you’d like to tackle first and what success will look like. Are you looking to increase employee engagement using surveys and eNPS? Are you hoping to promote transparency and performance across the organization using OKRs? Improve employee retention rate or win “Best Places to Work”? 


Communicate with this group regularly, update them on the progress of their goals, and discuss ways to improve and innovate.

Hold an initial meeting with the group and discuss your culture goals. Identify the top three goals you’d like to tackle first and what success will look like. Are you looking to increase employee engagement using surveys and eNPS? Are you hoping to promote transparency and performance across the organization using OKRs? Improve employee retention rate or win “Best Places to Work”? 


Communicate with this group regularly, update them on the progress of their goals, and discuss ways to improve and innovate.


Step 5: Celebrate successes

Celebrating achievements is particularly important for employee committees like your culture team, where members often dedicate extra time and effort beyond their regular work hours. By recognizing your team’s hard work, you can foster a more motivated, engaged, and committed group willing to go the extra mile for the good of the organization.


Recognition can take many forms, from public acknowledgment in meetings to personal thank-you notes, reinforcing that each individual's contributions matter.

Celebrating achievements is particularly important for employee committees like your culture team, where members often dedicate extra time and effort beyond their regular work hours. By recognizing your team’s hard work, you can foster a more motivated, engaged, and committed group willing to go the extra mile for the good of the organization.


Recognition can take many forms, from public acknowledgment in meetings to personal thank-you notes, reinforcing that each individual's contributions matter.


The Role of Technology in Culture Building

While a dedicated culture team is essential, technology can play a significant role in automating and elevating culture building efforts. 

According to a 2023 Deloitte survey, more than 90% of surveyed business leaders believe that using technology to improve work outcomes and team performance is important to their organization’s success. Yet only 22% believe their organizations are ready to use that technology.


The right software platform can bridge gaps in communication, provide insights into employee engagement, and offer avenues for continuous learning and development. Most importantly, it should be easy to use.


Insights and data found on the admin dashboard in The Best Answer
Insights and data found on the admin dashboard in The Best Answer
Insights and data found on the admin dashboard in The Best Answer
Insights and data found on the admin dashboard in The Best Answer

A view of the insights and data found on the admin dashboard in The Best Answer.

Introducing the Culture Success Platform


Introducing the Culture Success Platform

A Culture Success Platform enables leaders and their culture teams to systematically build and sustain a positive company culture. It's a catalyst that can accelerate the development of a strong culture, providing a scaffold on which the values and practices of an organization can grow and evolve.

This platform encompasses tools, practices, and metrics designed to enhance engagement, transparency, and alignment.

Key components of a culture success platform include:


  • Admin dashboard and culture success score: Using data analytics and AI, check in on the overall health of your culture.

  • Culture hub: Employee-facing hub for all cultural resources and activities.

  • Employee engagement tools: Deploy eNPS surveys and feedback mechanisms to measure and improve employee satisfaction and involvement. 

  • Shoutouts: Hand out praise to recognize and celebrate employee achievements.

  • Performance metrics: Establish clear metrics to track progress and measure the impact of cultural initiatives.


eNPS surveys in The Best Answer
eNPS surveys in The Best Answer
eNPS surveys in The Best Answer
eNPS surveys in The Best Answer

A view of eNPS surveys in The Best Answer.


  • Team alignment: Hold leaders accountable for assembling winning teams and helping team members succeed.

  • 1:1s with built-in agenda templates: Facilitate regular check-ins and continuous feedback between employees and managers.

  • Objectives and key results (OKRs): Set and track clear, measurable goals.

  • Event management and registration: Organize and manage company events to foster community.

  • Knowledge base: Centralized repository for company information and best practices.


Team alignment analytics in The Best Answer
Team alignment analytics in The Best Answer
Team alignment analytics in The Best Answer

A view of team alignment analytics in The Best Answer.

OKRs in The Best Answer
OKRs in The Best Answer
OKRs in The Best Answer

An example of OKRs in The Best Answer.

The Lasting Impact of a Culture of Success


The Lasting Impact of a Culture of Success

Leaders who build successful, sustainable cultures see benefits to their bottom line and beyond.


1. Retaining and recruiting top talent

Companies with strong cultures are often widely known as great places to work. This recognition attracts top talent, enhances the company’s reputation, and creates a competitive advantage in the job market.


Companies that make the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list, for example, experience half the turnover of their peers. The employees at these companies are also six times more likely to recommend their employer to others.


2. Unlocking employee potential

When employees understand where and how to direct their focus, they can align their efforts with the company’s goals. This clarity of purpose enhances productivity and job satisfaction. Empowered employees are more engaged and motivated. By giving employees the autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work, you unlock their full potential and drive better outcomes.


3. Fostering a spirit of experimentation

A culture that values experimentation encourages employees to take risks and explore new ideas. When employees are encouraged to experiment, they are more likely to identify areas for improvement and drive continuous innovation. This leads to better products, services, and processes, enhancing overall performance.


4. Driving rapid and profitable growth

A strong culture fosters an environment where employees are motivated to perform at their best, driving productivity and innovation. This leads to rapid and profitable growth, as the company can quickly adapt to market changes and seize new opportunities.

A strong culture fosters an environment where employees are motivated to perform at their best, driving productivity and innovation. This leads to rapid and profitable growth, as the company can quickly adapt to market changes and seize new opportunities.


Create a “Best Answer” Culture

Building a durable culture of success, optimizing employee engagement, and creating transparency and alignment are not just nice-to-have elements; they are essential for driving rapid and profitable growth.


By investing in a Culture Success Platform and establishing a dedicated culture team, you can create an environment where employees are motivated, engaged, and aligned with the company’s goals. This, in turn, fuels a spirit of experimentation and unlocks the full potential of employees, ensuring the long-term success and growth of the company.


With the right people, processes, and technologies, your organization can foster an environment where innovation thrives, morale is high, and every individual always seeks “The Best Answer.”

Thanks for reading our guide. As a thank you, please try out The Best Answer for free—it’s on us.

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