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Create a Character Culture in Your Business
by Ron Kurtus (updated 19 January 2022)
You have seen how character rules and is important in business. You have also seen how you and others learn your character traits and the various rules that help define your character and that of others. In applying these principles to improve your business, you want to build the character of your workforce. This can be done by creating a character culture in your business.
First, you try to hire employees with good character. Then you provide employees with guidelines for ethical behavior when doing company business. Finally, you create an atmosphere within the business of everyone having good character.
Questions you may have include:
- How do you hire people with good character?
- What sort of guidelines can a company have?
- How do you create a high character atmosphere?
This lesson will answer those questions.
Hire people of character
It is difficult to find out the true character of job applicants.
Character references are unreliable. Friends will seldom say bad things. Past employers can't say much for fear of lawsuits.
Many companies are using online psychological testing to find out if the applicant has poor character. However, many of these tests are unreliable and even falsely eliminate honest, hard-working people.
Employment record may give an indication of character, if the person had been fired a number of times.
A personal interview might be able to get clues on character, but it would not work in dealing with a good liar.
Train for character
Once a person is hired with your company, he or she should be given an employee handbook that states—in clear terms—the company rules. Unfortunately, obvious rules are often left out of company"s handbooks.
It is well worth your while to provide your employees with training on the character that is expected of them. This includes managers.
They need to be shown how poor character can hurt the company and threaten their jobs. But also, they should be shown the positive character of the company and how everyone contributes his or her part to that reputation.
Create the culture
If everyone in the company seems to have good character, a new employee will usually follow along with the esprit d' corps.
A major way to get others to adhere to good character behavior is to set an example yourself. Leaders and managers should exhibit good character traits. Workers will usually follow along, even though they may do otherwise outside the job.
Summary
Character is important in business. You have also seen how you and others learn your character traits and the various rules help define your character and that of others. In applying these principles to improve your business, you want to build a culture of character with your workforce.
This is done by first trying to hire employees with good character. Then you provide employees with guidelines for ethical behavior when doing company business. Finally, you create an atmosphere within the business of everyone having good character.
Lead the way
Resources and references
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Students and researchers
The Web address of this page is:
www.school-for-champions.com/business/
create_character_culture.htm
Please include it as a link on your website or as a reference in your report, document, or thesis.
Where are you now?
Create a Character Culture in Your Business