Amplify Your Corporate Culture at a Company Meeting

Amplify Your Corporate Culture at a Company Meeting

Yesterday, I had the honor at speaking at a company event here in Boston. The company is one of the leading IT security platforms in the market. They invested in bringing in almost 1,000 employees from local and global offices for a day long of education, networking and energy building. They chose this event to launch their employee advocacy program. I was asked to talk about the benefits to the employees and how GaggleAMP helps not just the company, but also the employee's personal brand. Speaking to multiple packed rooms, I was struck by the energy in the rooms and affinity for the company and its mission.

Being one of just two "outsiders" at the event, I had a unique view of how one company was solidifying a corporate culture in a widely distributed company environment. At lunch, I spoke with a number of employees dealing with marketing and HR. What was wildly refreshing was the connection between the two. This is a company that sees itself on a mission to transform the security infrastructure of its customers. In order to do so, they need alignment in all areas. Here are a few takeaways from what I learned at the event:

  1. DO company events. This company set the tone for a great 2017 by doing it in January. At GaggleAMP, we do this quarterly.
  2. Market Training. Think about it. Everyone in your company has impact. The more they know about the market landscape, the better. Plus, great ideas come from people who have a different perspective.
  3. Play Games. In our sessions, we were making a point by using the classic telephone game. We broke the room into teams and created some energy to kick off the session. This primes a group for learning!
  4. Get Your Executives to Mingle. One of the truly telling things about a culture is how "flat" an organization can stay as it grows. I am not talking about a lack of management layers, I am talking about the willingness for all layers to interact with each other. I was pleased to see in one of my sessions that the CEO was in the back of the room (backpack in tow) participating with other employees. When the session was over, I saw him working the crowd.
  5. Keep the Energy Going. In this case, they created much energy at their employee event and then will keep it going by using GaggleAMP to get their employees to share content, engage digitally and grow their own personal brands along with the company.

I think back to work life when I first entered the workforce in the 90s (gulp). The role of corporate culture back then was dictated by a top-down hierarchical approach to silo functions in the organization. We have come a long way... a very long way. What have you noticed about corporate culture changes and how a company meeting can support it?

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