Why it’s key to build culture ‘on a daily basis’

Speaking on a recent episode of Secrets of the Top 100, Su Reynolds, the director, sales and chief cultural officer at Byron Bay First National, said that a lot of businesses make the common mistake of ignoring cultural issues in the workplace until they become major problems that can no longer be ignored. 

More importantly, she warned how typically this “erosion” of business culture comes “from the top down”, adding that leaders “wait for something to blow up on a monumental scale before they address it”. 

With that, Ms Reynolds emphasised that addressing cultural issues within a business requires a proactive approach rather than a reactive one.

But she highlighted that maintaining culture doesn’t have to start big and can begin by focusing on how the team communicates with each other. 

“Whereas we just keep in check the little cultural things that need to be kept in check on a daily basis, whether it’s the way we’re talking to each other, the way if someone’s talking about someone else,” she explained. 

“We always have the mantra that we’ve always got to pretend that our vendors who entrusted us with their properties and pay us a lot of money can hear everything we say,” she shared. 

With this mindset, she explained that it helps keep people in the business accountable and ensures that they maintain professional and respectful behaviour not only to their clients but also within the team. 

And as the market shifts to its “back-to-normal” phase, she underlined how a healthy business culture – one that fosters communication and transparency – can drive strong business results.

“Many buyers, most buyers are really nervous about buying at the moment. So, that precious time between acceptance, offer and acceptance and exchange of contract, there’s a lot of counselling happening and working towards shortening that period as much as we can,” she explained. 

She highlighted that the uncertainty brought on by the rate increases and other headwinds made a “whole lot more communication” crucial in the current market environment, adding that “it’s important for vendors to know every single thing that we are doing behind the scenes to try and help create the best sale we possibly can for them”.

“I think agents make the mistake of assuming that the sellers know that we’re working hard and doing a good job, but they know every single task that I’m doing for them to help them create a sale and get the best price,” she stated.

Walking the talk on how leadership should play a vital role in building a healthy business culture, Ms Reynolds also shared how she finds balance between her work and her personal life. 

Sharing insights on how her day to day goes, she compared her routine to “put the big rocks of what’s really important in your week in place, and then work out the rest around it”. 

“[As] long as you stick to making sure the big rocks, like calling your vendors, doing exercise, having family time, team meetings – if all that’s in place – making calls, then everything else sort of works itself out around it,” she said. 

Ms Reynolds also shared why it’s important to take time to “reset” by taking breaks throughout the year. 

“[Our] phone is right by our side; we’re always on call. We’re always checking it. If it’s not ringing, we’re checking to make sure it’s still turned on. And to give yourself a break, you [need] a break from that fight-or-flight sort of feeling all of the time, [which] is really important for your health,” she stated. 

This article was originally published on HR Leader’s sister brand Real Estate Business (REB).

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