Culture: The Print Industry Leader's Best Growth Opportunity

What creates the greatest opportunity for long-term success for a print industry company? Culture.

Culture, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the beliefs, customs, arts . . . of a particular group” and “a way of thinking, behaving or working that exists in a place or organization.” It is the industry leader’s responsibility to set the culture of his or her company. It is the responsibility of the other members of the team to support and propagate that culture.

Culture is critical to long-term success.

Why Does Culture Matter?

Why does culture matter so much? People come and go. Having a strong culture that drives the way your company conducts its business is the best way to keep your company values strong. That way, even when people leave, the culture remains.

In any industry, business leaders can’t always be present. When they are not there, it is the culture—the way a company does business—that keeps everything humming.

Here are a few ideas for establishing and continuing your company’s culture.

1. Establish the Vision, Mission, and Values

Vision, mission, and values don’t just live in your head. It is important to write them down and then communicate your vision team members. For example, if you want your team members to treat customers a certain way, then you must have that discussion. You can’t take for granted that everyone has the same philosophy.

At Wise, we have a stated goal of highly efficient production and valuing our team members. We combine both in our Kaizen events. During these events, members of our team at all relevant levels participate. Their voices are heard, their opinions are valued, and in the end, we achieve a higher level of productivity, too.

2. Engage Leadership

All leaders—in the print industry and beyond—need to buy in. They need to believe in what the company stands for, where it is going, and how it will get there. All leaders need to continually reinforce and live the way the company does business.

Here at Wise, we live that out by holding weekly meetings of our top managers from all locations via a video call. During that call, we discuss what is happening in all areas of the company with the leaders in each area. This reinforces our teamwork value. The call generates discussion, then we call the play so that when the huddle breaks, all leaders are executing the same way together.

3. Drive Empowerment, Responsibility and Accountability

Great cultures empower their people to get the job done. They instill a sense of responsibility to carry out their assignments.

That’s why another cultural value at Wise is autonomous execution. The CEO does not get overly involved with how things are getting done as long as the desired results are being achieved. This results in management autonomy that builds the managers’ skill sets to become even better managers and even better at execution. This prepares the team to take on additional responsibilities in the future.

It also frees up the CEO to do what he needs to do to focus on growing and improving the business for Wise’s people and their customers.

4. Recognize Team Members

When team members conduct themselves in a way that the leaders want them to, then leaders must find ways to recognize them. This could be in front of the rest of the team. It could just be a memo to all team members or dinner with the boss. The key is to pick something meaningful. Something that reinforces the culture and builds on it.

Commit to Culture for Printing Industry Success

Culture creation is hard work. You need to accept this up front and be committed to creating the culture you want. The payoff will be sustaining and growing your print industry business in the long-term.

As leaders, we want to see our companies continue beyond us. Culture is the vehicle to do it. Do you see culture as an opportunity to grow your print business in the long-term? What are some ideas you may have or implemented to create and sustain a great culture?