One common challenge UAE start-ups face is scaling their culture and imprinting the idea into talents to achieve overall goals. A company’s culture is like its DNA, defining how it should function.

Company culture refers to the shared organizational values, norms, and practices that collectively guide the company. This definition is similar to the societal term “culture,” which refers to the usual way of life. If done right, a company’s culture can influence massive employee commitment and drive growth faster. It is composed of elements such as company missions, recognition, and approach to employees’ performance. In this article, we address how you can scale your business’s company culture to match the growth of your UAE startup. 

The Importance of Company Culture for UAE Startups

The right company culture is the backbone of any successful start-up. It attracts the right talents and also ensures that you retain good ones. Besides, it has implications for the performance of the employees and the company. The company culture dictates how employees interact with customers, make decisions, and complete tasks. A positive and effective culture guarantees success. Overall, having a good company culture is essential.  It improves the retention rate, profitability, customer satisfaction, and productivity. 

Key Elements of a Strong Startup Culture

Most startups fail before they reach one year, mainly because they have a weak company culture. Now that we have emphasized the necessity of a strong culture, what makes up a strong company culture? Here are the critical elements of a strong company culture. Understanding each sheds light on what your company’s culture is possibly missing: 

Clear Mission, Vision, and Values

A clear mission, vision, and values offer a sense of purpose, which gives the impression that your company knows where it is headed. This helps you recruit employees that align with the company’s mission and vision. Moreover, it matters to investors, as they get to believe in the project. When pitching the business to investors, a clear mission and vision can sway their decisions. Emphasize how your vision gives back to the community and potentially provides more significant returns. When the mission and vision align with the customer goals, it facilitates customer satisfaction and, ultimately, the company’s growth. 

Open and Transparent Communication

Encourage open dialogue between employees and management. Open and transparent communication ensures that employees know how to express their thoughts. Moreover, better communication also fosters customer satisfaction. You get to listen and spot pressure points. These pressure points can serve as insights into what you do wrong or right as a start-up. This way, you know traits to reinforce and those to discard. 

Collaborative and Inclusive Environment

Startups thrive in a collaborative and inclusive environment. A disjointed workforce doesn’t last. That said, you must create a space where everyone can air their ideas and opinions without fearing negative criticism or judgment. This fosters collaboration and gives the impression that the business is open to each person’s contribution. 

Focus on Employee Growth and Development

Employee growth and development are subsequently the company’s growth and development. Hence, a good company culture should emphasise employee growth. The workplace should stimulate a growth mindset in its employees. There are several ways to do this. You can incentivise improved productivity or breed healthy competition between colleagues. This bit of employee growth and development can fast-track the start-up’s development. 

Celebration of Milestones and Successes

Positive reinforcement is an essential part of building the right company culture. When you reward good traits, they tend to resurface. It is important to celebrate your brand’s milestones and success. It could be a buffer or a simple congratulatory letter to everyone involved. Regardless of your option, ensure you make it a practice to celebrate milestones and successes with the rest of the team. 

Challenges in Maintaining Culture as Startups Grow

As your startup grows, there are several instances when your company culture will be challenged. Here, we discuss these challenges. Later, we will address the strategies you can use to approach them:

Dilution of Core Values and Principles

An increased workforce is an indicator of a growing startup. However, with more employees, ensuring everyone follows the company’s core values and principles is problematic, causing dilution. Many employees start to lose sight of what the company is about, which might impact its performance. 

Silos and Breakdowns in Communication

As more people join the startup, it can be difficult to get optimal communication as it was for a much smaller group. Many people might want to butt in, which can lead to a breakdown in communications and loss of vital information.

Inconsistencies in Employee Experience

The more employees you recruit, the more inconsistent their experiences will be. Some of your employees will have been with the company since the dawn of the platform. Hence, they have the company culture ingrained in them. Newer employees might need help navigating the company culture. 

Resistance to Change and Adaptation

Naturally, humans are resistant to change. Hence, new employees and systems might take a while to become part of your workforce. A growing UAE startup has more employees, work, and customers. Hence, the company’s culture needs to be scaled up, and the change might not come easy for your staff.

Strategies for Scaling Company Culture UAE Startups

Growing startups need scaling company culture to meet the new demands placed on the company. We have noted the problems associated with a growing UAE startup. What are the solutions? Here are salient strategies to scale your company’s culture to match the needs of your startup: 

Defining and Communicating Cultural Values

When you have new hires, it is vital to introduce them to the company’s cultural values. Moreover, it is essential to regularly inform your workforce of what the company is for and against. The continual reminder helps ensure these values stick and are followed. 

Hiring for Cultural Fit and Alignment

Hire employees based on how well they align with your company’s values. You can use HR software like Bayzat to ensure that you hire employees who match the cultural fit of your company during recruitment. 

Providing Cultural Onboarding and Training

Even after recruitment, it is crucial that you positively reinforce these cultural values to ensure the hires understand the company’s principles. This step is also essential for existing employees. Occasionally, provide the people in your workforce with training to review the company culture. This will prevent dilution and ensure they rapidly adapt as the company grows. 

Encouraging Employee Feedback and Participation

Motivate employees and managers to offer feedback consistently. Information is necessary as your company grows. Moreover, you need to carry everyone along. Remember, an inclusive environment is essential for a strong company culture. Encourage employee engagement and participation. You can use survey tools to get the required information.

Empowering Managers to Champion the Culture

Leadership is a vital aspect of any business. When the leader is led astray, it is only a matter of time before the startup collapses. Hence, you must empower managers to ensure they champion the company culture. Once the managers are onboard, ensuring employees are on track and religious to the company’s culture becomes easy. 

Best Practices for Maintaining Culture in a Growing UAE Startup

It is one thing to create a strong company culture, but maintaining it is a different ball game. Here are practices to ensure you maintain culture in a growing UAE startup:

Regular Culture Audits and Assessments

One way to assess how well the company culture is coming along is to conduct regular audits and assessments. You can do this via analytic tools. Employ HR software like Bayzat, which offers several HR solutions, to gauge individual performance and investigate whether employees have been faithful to the culture. When you find a gap, take cautionary measures to fix it. 

Consistent Reinforcement of Cultural Norms and Behaviors

Learning is by repetition. Cultural norms and behaviour need to be consistently reinforced. You can do this through continual communication. Keep reminding the staff of the company’s values through seminars and occasional training sessions. 

Recognition and Rewards for Cultural Contributions

Positive reinforcement through recognition and reward is a powerful way to keep the wheels spinning. Spot extraordinary cultural contributions and reward them openly. This keeps the rest of the staff fired for a shot at gold. 

Continuous Improvement and Evolution of Culture

Culture needs to evolve to meet the company’s demands continually. An example is investing in a SaaS tool to streamline countless processes. When a company culture is left dormant, it wastes away. The behaviour becomes ineffective and redundant. Over time, people discard it, and once the culture breaks down, the company usually follows. 

UAE Startups with Strong and Scalable Company Cultures

Several UAE startups have robust and scalable company cultures, which is apparent from their performance in the industry. Here are three successful startup businesses and a brief introduction to what they do. 

Flare Network

Flare Network is a UAE startup business in the Blockchain market. Established in 2019, the company has altered the blockchain industry by developing an EVM Layer 1 blockchain. The business promotes open and transparent communication. This communication allows the flow of ideas, which causes rapid innovations, a necessary addition to a startup.  

Nümi

Nümi entered the UAE entertainment scene in 2021. It contributes to Dubai’s booming entertainment ecosystem by creating a gaming site for user-generated content. Numi tries to be inclusive as part of its company’s culture. This atmosphere has led to a workplace where employees can air their ideas and create unique content. 

Bayzat

Bayzat is an HR company established in 2011. The startup offers HR solutions in several industries, including Employee Benefits, Insurance, and People Management. It is one of the most famous UAE organizations with an excellent work culture that trickles right from the top administrators to the newest interns. The company also helps other businesses create and project proper employer-employee culture for long-term success. 

If you are planning a startup or already have one that is experiencing a communication breakdown among the workforce, contacting Bayzat may be the right step to take. The company has experts with years of experience analyzing businesses and crafting a proper culture that aligns with their overall goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do Startups Maintain Company Culture As They Grow? 

Company culture is vital and mustn’t fade; hence, it needs to be maintained. There are many ways to do this: meticulous hiring, consistent reinforcement, rewarding displays of cultural contributions, and accessible training and leadership programs. 

How Does Company Culture Impact Growth?

Company culture is a collection of values and behaviors that shape an organization. These seemingly small effects compound to have massive implications. They determine how your employees react to customers and their productivity. 

How to Improve Your Startup Company Culture

A strong company culture has a clear mission and vision, focuses on employees’ growth, and seeks to create an inclusive environment. To improve your company’s culture, fashion your company’s culture to match a strong company culture. Scaling company culture UAE startup is demanding but necessary.