These perks are typically offered by large organisations, with very "deep pockets" - and are often used as proof that the organizations offering the perks have an "excellent" organizational culture. If this type of perk is the goal of exceptional organizational culture, many owners in smaller organizations may find it out of their reach.

Indeed, there is no need to lose heart for that reason. It is true that larger organizations often have better resources – but the very fact that prevents smaller organizations from competing with large organizations on organizational culture – is at the same time a huge advantage. It is about the organisation's smaller size.

Much suggests that smaller organizations are able to outperform their larger "counterpart" because they are more flexible and agile when it comes to creating and having a good individual contact with the individual employee.

Owners of smaller organizations are also per automatically equal to the top management in the organization. With fewer layers of management to cut through, they have the opportunity to implement the necessary organizational cultural initiatives, much faster.

In the next sections, I will describe a number of methods to create a healthy organizational culture, without having to take out the big wallet.

1. Analyze the culture of your organization

The first – and also the most comprehensive tip of them all is about having the culture in your organization analyzed and mapped.

Can you analyze, measure and map culture? Yes – with a small group value analysis or a cultural value analysis it is actually possible to measure something as intangible as organizational culture, as with any other type of measurement of key figures, KPIs, budgets, etc.

AND if you can measure and analyze something, you can handle it!

A small group value analysis enables managers to actively measure and manage values and cultures in organizations. The analysis is a good and affordable alternative to a cultural value analysis when it comes to mapping and making visible the culture of a small organisation, a department, a team, a management group or any other type of group with up to 20 people.

"Big brother" - the cultural value analysis can handle up to 30,000 employees, but is otherwise very similar to the small group value analysis.

A small group value analysis provides all the necessary data to plan and manage a large number of cultural and financial areas in the organization.

First of all, the culture analysis provides a detailed understanding of your employees' personal values, what they think the current culture looks like, and what culture the organization should have and what direction they want the organization to go in = The desired culture.

The benefit of a small group value analysis is primarily about 3 things:

1. Your organization gets more profit on the bottom line. It does this by strengthening the part of the organizational culture that works AND by dealing with the things that do not work in the organizational culture. What does not work - can be unnecessarily wasted "energy" in the form of inefficiency, friction, conflicts, lack of cooperation, etc.
2. Your organization gains a competitive edge. Personally, I believe that – Who you are and what you stand for = the cultural capital of the organization – is just as important as the quality of the products and the service you sell. Therefore, mapping and working with the cultural capital is one of the greatest assets in any organization.
3. Your organization gets more engaged employees. The more managers and employees can bring "more of themselves to work", the more effective they become. I also believe that committed employees attract more committed and competent employees. Labor seeks to go where it is good to be.

The result of a small group value analysis allows for a deep and meaningful dialogue about the organization's purpose, priorities and strategy. The analysis also gives the organization a "roadmap" for how it can become a high performance organization.

A High performance organization can be recognized by the fact that it is guided by the vision, it has a constant focus on the mission and it is value-driven. High performance organizations have a low level of cultural entropy (= dysfunction, friction, inefficiency and conflicts). It is adaptable and resistant to change – both from within and from without, and they are focused on meeting and nurturing the needs of all stakeholders.

Smaller organizations have the clear advantage compared to larger organizations that it is much easier, faster and more flexible to introduce the "roadmap" in the organization. This is because – all other things being equal – the organisation, due to its size, is less complex and therefore much easier to handle when major changes have to be integrated.

2. Make your hiring strategy "collaborative"

Regardless of the size of your organization, hiring new employees is a necessity. You can therefore just as well turn the hiring process into a collaboration with your employees. Collaborating with your employees regarding the hiring process shows that you really care about who you bring into your team - and what effect it will have on the existing workforce. In this way, you focus on building and developing relationships between the team members - and at the same time the joint effort builds an organizational culture based on loyalty and mutual trust.

A suggestion for the hiring process could be that you let the employees find the suitable "candidates" for the position from the pool of applicants. Indeed, your employees are in the best position to describe the skills, behaviors and values needed to bring to the organization to make it more successful.

3. Introduce value-based and mutual development conversations

The values are used and lived. Many of the best organizations work purposefully with the organisation's core values, just as they make them visible and bring them into play in everyday life. The role of the values is to be the link that makes the organization's mission, vision and strategy connect with daily behavior and decision-making.

Part of the benefit from the small group value analysis, as described earlier in the article, is to find out the organization's core values. The core values should be an integral part of the organisation's cultural understanding.

One of the places where the core values can be articulated with great advantage is when GUS talks are held in the organization.

GUS conversations differ from the better-known MUS conversation on several points.

An effective way to articulate the core values is by using the values specifically and concretely in relation to experienced situations. How have the values been used by each manager and employee? How can they be used even more? What should the values contribute to the individual situation? Etc. etc.

Put another way, it is about putting into words daily behavior and decision-making in relation to how the values are used – and can best be used. The better the daily behavior and decision-making of employees and managers is in line with the core values, the more the core values function as a "guide" on the way to the vision.

Another thing in GUS is about reciprocity in the conversation. This means that it is more about an equal dialogue between manager and employee - where feedback is given mutually, constructively and lovingly both ways. This is a significant difference to the asymmetric conversation that the MUS conversation must necessarily be between a manager and an employee.

From my perspective, Mutual Development Conversations are far more than a single dialogue.

One way to use GUS effectively can be for both manager and employee to subsequently appoint a "mentor" for the employee who will help him or her in the coming year to achieve the agreements that the GUS conversation has led to.

In this way, the employees in the smaller organization are engaged crosswise in relation to each other's professional and personal development processes – which in turn creates better team spirit throughout the organization.

Employees and "mentors" can advantageously hold a quarterly follow-up meeting, where the employee's (and the manager's) progress and challenges are continuously followed up.

Finally, employees and managers who have attended a course or similar can contribute to the next morning meeting with what they have learned. A subsequent dialogue in the team can help ensure that the learning you want to implement in the organization can subsequently take place.

4. Help the employees see meaning in their work

One of the most important tasks for all managers is to help their team members see the connection between their daily tasks and the organization's overall mission and vision. Employees who understand the organization's "big picture" make better decisions and are more likely to collaborate with their colleagues. Let me be honest. Some tasks and jobs are just not very glamorous or exciting. As a manager, you have to find a way for Bente in the packaging department to understand how important careful packaging of the product and timely shipment of products ultimately has a huge impact on the customer's experience of the overall purchase.

5. Build an organizational culture based on trust

One of the most important elements in relation to what makes an organization a fantastic place to be is about leaders in the organization creating a "high-trust" culture. There are several business advantages in "high-trust" cultures, such as less employee turnover, and greater competitiveness in the market compared to competitors. Internally in the organization, the high level of trust provides fertile ground for greater commitment and co-determination = employee empowerment.

You have great advantages as a manager in a smaller organization to create a culture based on a high degree of trust, as there are fewer organizational "layers" between you and the individual employee.

There are many ways to establish trust in an organization, and they are either free or can be achieved at little cost.

6. Hold meetings together with the organization's purpose

You can advantageously place an empty chair in the meeting room as a representative of the organization's purpose.

Every time you make a decision, get too detail-oriented or disagree, you can ask yourself. What is really best in relation to the highest purpose of the organization right now.

It might be an idea for a meeting participant to sit in the chair - and feel the "energy" of the purpose. I know it sounds strange - but it actually works quite well.

If you can put yourself beyond your own ego, it is relatively easy to feel the "energy" from the chair.

In this way, the organization's purpose is always given its proper place.