The idea of subculture (a culture within a larger context) has been in vogue for nearly one hundred years. In popular society we recognize all kinds of groups. There are Hipsters, Emos, Goths, Cowboys, Greasers, Jocks, and the list goes on and on.
The business world is no different. And, although their actual origins are nearly as old as the concept of culture, the value of recognizing that business organizations have their own culture (a sub-culture) has finally gained popular traction.
There is deep and powerful justification for this recognition.
“Culture” is that nearly indescribable quality that gives an organization its identity. It tells leadership, workers, partners, clients and vendors who this company is as a collective. Culture provides a benchmark to guide communication and actions with one another both inside and outside the group. It is from our culture that we decide on things like our Mission and Vision as a franchise company.
How a culture develops is a huge topic. Suffice to say that every franchise company has one regardless of whether it is well thought out and disciplined or whether it is simply a function of the powerful personality of its founder and/or leadership. It needs to be understood and when making significant business decisions, such as adding franchisees, needs to be a matter of weighty reflection.
Growing franchise systems can face tough challenges when it comes to imparting cultural principles. Any business has these issues in that the working body within the enterprise comes from various educational, ethnic, demographic, societal and familial backgrounds.
Franchises add additional layers and dimensions to the culture/subculture issue. New franchisees coming into the system do not have the same strictures and structures as those who work for “corporate.” The franchisee group is not vertically integrated. Further, the system is made up of individual owners. Without a proper alignment on day one new franchisees, in part, assume they were approved because of the “culture” they bring with them. Of course we can add to the mix that most franchise networks range over large geographic areas.
Culture is a function of compatibility. Clearly in selecting franchisees the concept of culture needs to be addressed upfront. Are they one of us? Will they fit in? Or will this new “member” end up being overtly or subtly rejected because they aren’t one of us? Franchise operations with any experience know how tough the mismatch of franchisee culture versus franchise company culture can be in terms of infrastructures, man-hours, training and re-training and generally the lack of or overuse of lines of communication.
There is nothing about a personality or behavioral/temperament assessment that explains culture. Call me that we might discuss how your franchise organization can create a permanent solution for the issue of bringing a punk rocker into your hipster community!
Zoracle Profiles assessment tools were developed exclusively for franchise companies. They determine compatibility and performance.