How we are shaping our culture to allow our team to succeed

One thing we know for sure, is that we are incredibly fortunate to have an amazing, talented, collaborative team here at Lancom. 

From the outset, it may look like it has been a fluke, attracting the right people to come to together – however, I assure you this is no accident! The culture we have developed to bring together such people has been carefully cultivated, and nurtured.  

This year Lancom is turning  30 years old, and though we have always had a sense of who we are as a company, and as individuals, we have taken this opportunity to reflect and solidify these thoughts. 

And we wanted to share where we are at, with you. 

Lancom, at it's core, is on a mission to create leverage through software. We want to help businesses excel through customised technology solutions, that allow them to do what they do, better (or explore new markets and industries). 

However, in order to bring that kind of business changing value to our customers, we recognise the importance of having values of our own  

The right team, to us, is not solely defined by their level of intelligence, though demonstrating abilities plays a significant part in our hiring process, we appreciate that there are other traits that are also important for our team members to  possess.  

We call the collection of these traits our core values.  

Our 5 core values are beyond important to us.  The combination of these define what we want to stand for as a group of individuals with common interests.  

The 5 principles we foster are:  

1. Talent 

2. Continuous learning 

3. Humility 

4. Perseverance 

5. Creativity  

By knowing what we stand for, we are also defining what we are not. This has meant we are able bring together a team which holds both the intellectual, and personal skills that allows us to thrive in a complex and competitive technology space. No one is here to simply fill a seat! 

We demonstrate how serious we are about these values from our hiring process, which starts with testing the ability to demonstrate talent and ability first. To do this, we've developed our own software which blind-tests applicants on practical skills for the job, allowing us to select those who can show their ability to do the job (aka. those who show talent). 

We do this through investing in our technology, and our people. 

Top talent doesn’t want to be held back by technology, they want to be enabled by it. 

Off the back of this notion, holds the importance and prevalence of the systems we use here at Lancom. We like to practice what we preach and that goes towards the technologies we use day in and day out. 

Whether it means working from home, the café next door, at a clients office, or even from another country, the combination of cloud computing solutions and applications allows us to still connect and work as a team, despite time and geographical barriers.

The second way we attract talent is by demonstrating that we invest in our people, nurture their talents, and giving them opportunities to grow and develop within Lancom. How do we do this? By discussing their position, and development path for the first year, in their initial interview. 

We keep this communication on going through quarterly catchups on progress/hurdles, and through collaborative performance reviews which not only track progress, but discuss and evaluate the individuals future development over the course of the next year (and put in place milestones to get them to the next step).  

At the end of the day, our success as a collective, rests upon each team member having the tools, resources and opportunities to put forward their best self, every day.  

We are acutely aware of the benefits of fostering collaboration. 

Though we all have our own individual roles and responsibilities, the true power of having all of these amazing, talented individuals under the same roof is that we are able to draw upon different strengths to deliver our best work (and develop the best outcomes for our clients!).  

One way we foster collaboration, is by having an open plan office. Though this may sound cliché, we have found that by removing physical barriers between team members, makes way for increased fluidity and off the cuff feedback or collaboration between the team. 

We also expect, and put in place systems, for our teams to come together and discuss issues they are having. We do this through regular internal meetings to inform and problem solve between the team.    

And guess what? The technology we have implemented in our own organisation, is geared towards collaboration!  

You may have seen our posts (and Lancom TV episode!) raving about the Microsoft Teams platform, so I will keep our glowing reviews on the collaboration opportunities and efficiency it brings to a minimum. But what I will say is, if you haven't investigated Teams yet, do your business a favour and get on it! 

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, we recognise the need to be able to  communicate our culture consistently and efficiently at scale.  

As our business and team grows, the importance of developing and maintaining our culture increases.  

However with scale comes increasing opportunities for culture to be distorted, and watered down. For the essence of our culture to stay alive, it requires more than just an outline during a team members on boarding - it requires consistent communication and demonstration.  

So, how do we do this?  We leverage communication channels. 

A funny thing happens when you start telling your company's story to the world, online – it not only establishes who you are to others, but it also reinforces your culture internally, to your team who are watching. We make our culture salient, and 'tangible', via our website and social media platforms – and make our teams' stories, a part of our story.  

So, as you can see, shaping our culture is an ongoing process for us... we don’t think there will be a finish line! However, we are committed to developing an environment that attracts the right people, and allows them to succeed. 

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Though we provide insights into how we construct our own culture, we can’t give you an exact equation as to how to refine yours. What we can help you with however, is ensuring you have the technology that supports your talent, and gives them a solid foundation to do their best work. 

If you want to chat with our experts as to how you can leverage technology to empower your team, get in touch and experience what it means to receive value up front. 

We are looking for new talent to join our expanding team! If this is you, or you know someone looking for an opportunity in the IT space, click the button below to learn more about our openings!