The Startup Culture Of 2020 Startups secure_ad Comments When thinking about startup culture, you must be thinking about late sittings at the office, busy hours, and homey offices. Well, you’re not wrong. However, just like everything else in this world, startup culture is also ever-evolving. This article is going to reflect on the startup culture of 2020 and how it has changed from before. The startup culture of an organization can make or break a business. The efficient work of its employees runs a company, or it doesn’t run at all. A culture of an organization plays a vital part in the satisfaction of a worker, but how does culture tie in with the success of a business? Why is it so essential to establish an excellent startup culture? Let’s find out. Why startup culture is important Did you know that 65% of 18-35 old employees prefer culture over salary? It’s not surprising since mental peace comes before everything, even money! Establishing the culture of a startup can be really tricky. Since the company is new, every individual contributes to the culture, and it keeps on changing over time. You might think you don’t have a culture yet, but you do! From your policies to how you take care of your employees to the office environment, everything contributes to your culture! Workplace culture can be a critical factor in why your company has a high turnover rate, low motivation, and productivity. So, even if you manage to attract and hire experts in the field, if your culture is toxic or weak, they will leave no matter the benefits. Nobody likes being miserable. A high employee turnover rate also tarnishes the company’s reputation, so be careful! Creating a startup culture is a challenging task, but it can be even more challenging to change the dynamics once a bad culture sets in. An established company can take the hit that is caused by its cultures, but a startup will just sink. Keeping employees satisfied should not be on the back-burner, but should rather be a priority, so they perform well and input more into the wellness of the startup because that’s the only way it can grow. Startup Culture of 2020 We talked about the startup culture within a company, but how is the paradigm of the whole startup industry changing? No more high-pressure environment Startup culture is known for working under pressure, expanded JDs, and working at breakneck speeds to deliver results. All of this is going to change in 2020. Hustling Culture is out, making room for a more empathetic approach. The old approach actually proved to be counterproductive as the employees burnt out more often than not. Hence, for 2020, HR is encouraged to put out more policies that will be centered around employee’s well being. This will attract more talent that will stay, hence benefiting the company in the process too. What goes around really comes around in this case! More seed funding The frequency of new startups has steadily risen over the past few years, and so has investments. This is mainly because before the investment was distributed across multiple startups. However, after many startups failed to deliver results, investors have become vary about where they are going to put their money in. Venture capitalists now dig deeper into the startup to determine whether it will be successful or not. Once they do find one, they’re not afraid to invest in them, hence driving up the investments as well. Tech startups will take the lead From home automation to our fridge notifying us to restock our groceries, it’s no wonder that IoT projects are leading the tech industry right now. Gartner reports that 20.8 billion projects will be connected to the internet by 2020, and there are no signs of stopping. Everything is getting automated these days, even cars and vacuums! The focus of the IoT industry was towards home automation first, but it’s slowly creeping up into healthcare, logistics, and management as well. Many startups have been capitalizing on this trend by coming up with new and exciting ideas and pitching them to VCs. However, IoT products are always at risk of data fraud since the products used are recording at all times. If the information is leaked, it could pose a huge problem for the respective company, and they could be fined millions of dollars. Hence, companies should have policies and security protocols in place so the problem can be dealt with in case of hacking and other security risks. How to establish a startup culture As a founder, how do you ensure that you create the best startup culture for your company? The thing is, cultures obviously differ from company to company, and once it’s created, it’s hard to change. A startup’s founders, first employees, and their mission are some of the key ingredients that go into the making of the company culture. If you’re a product-based company, your goals and values will differ from the company which sells services. 77% of employees would consider culture before applying to a new company. Even new hirings are based on whether the employee will be able to fit into a culture, so it goes both ways. If the founders are introverts, then the company is probably going to be a quiet place to work in because the employees will need to resonate with the culture. Any individual that does not fit in probably ends up leaving if they are hired in the first place as the core principles just don’t go well together. Can you imagine an introvert stuck in a lively office filled with extroverted employees? Absolutely not! It’s just going to be an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. The million-dollar question is, how do you ensure your culture aligns with your values, vision, and goals? Lead by example As a founder and leader, it’s your job to set the tone of the work environment. Make your employees feel at home and easy around you, rather than having them stiffen up every time you cross their desks. Small things like how you talk to your employees, if your criticism is constructive or not, do you reward them for their performances or not. If you’re easy-going and friendly, then the work environment will be too. Don’t try to force it There will probably be a difference in your current culture, and the culture you’re aspiring towards. If you force aspirational culture on your employees, then chances are they won’t even listen and just put it off. This is counterproductive as well and will make your employees feel uncomfortable. There’s nothing wrong with striving to implement a different, better culture in your organization. It all comes down to how you implement it. Instead of telling your employees that we’re going to have this new culture now, sit down with them and tell them where your company lacks and what should be done in order to integrate properties of the aspiring culture slowly in the current one. This makes the employees feel valued, are not only comfortable with the change but will also work and take the measures needed for the new culture to integrate seamlessly. Manage and act on it Once you do have new policies to establish the culture, make sure actually to follow them. What’s the use of them if they aren’t being executed? Culture shouldn’t be on paper, it needs to be acted on. Once the culture sets in, it’s critical to manage it in a startup organization. Be aware of any cultural gaps and work towards diminishing them. However, as your company grows, there should always be room for changes. For example, before you were a product-oriented company, but since you’re doing so well, you’ve expanded it to include more services. Now your organization is more customer-oriented and has a large sales team to support it, and hence your culture will become more extroverted. Hire carefully One of the key factors in hiring an employee is determining whether or not they will fit well in your culture. It’s important because otherwise, the employee will leave the organization if they feel uncomfortable. Hence make sure that the hiring already aligns with your organization’s visions and principles. How do you tell if you’ve done a good job establishing the right culture in your startup? These things have a way of showing themselves. If the employees are satisfied, it will reflect in the way they are working, coming up with new ideas, their motivation, and, most importantly, their overall productivity. Of course, you can always circulate feedback forms if you want tangible proof. This way, your employees will also know that the company cares for them and is actually working to provide them with a good work environment. Conclusion Creating and maintaining a culture can be hard, and you’re bound to get some resistance too. However, you need to remain headfast because building a culture takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. At the end of the day, it’s all about what’s best for the company. As your organization gathers more success under its belt over the years, your culture will evolve too. Tags: | Startup Culture startup culture of 2020
