Implementing Core Values and A Conducive Culture for Virtual Teams

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Leaders have a tendency to overlook the company’s core values posted on their walls or website. What they do not realize is that implementing those core values greatly improves an organization’s productivity, employee engagement, motivation, client attraction, and client retention. Implementation of core values is also vital in creating a company culture that supports the organization’s vision and goals.

In today’s podcast episode, we interview Marc Reifenrath, Founder and CEO of Spinutech, a national digital marketing agency which is included in Inc. top 500 high-growth companies. Today’s topics are focused on implementing company core values, creating a conducive work culture through feedback, and focusing on team members’ growth every single day as they Team Anywhere.

The Four Core Values of Spinutech

Marc mentioned that his company is built on four (4) core values which are embedded in the culture and day-to-day routines.

We Get Better Every Day – According to Marc, his organization gets better every single day for themselves, teammates and clients. In their Get Better 24 Program (GB24), they allot 34 hours of work and 6 hours for self-development each week.
We Do The Right Thing – Spinutech team members always lead with integrity and humility; even though it is often hard to do, they strive to do the right thing.
We Over Me – Spinutech prioritizes the mindset of being a team player, performing with the desire to work with others and win together as a team.
We Own It – Each and every team member is accountable for a defined set of tasks. Team members are self-starters and responsible to finish work inside the 40-hour work week without micromanagement.

Marc’s High Feedback Organization

According to Marc, Spinutech is an organization built on their core values and culture. Onboarding new team members is injected with demonstrating the organization’s culture and core values right from the start. This includes emphasis on accountability and team support. An added culture requirement is emphasis on the giving and receiving of continuous feedback. Feedback is an accepted and positive norm since it feeds the goal of “getting better every day.”

In order for Marc’s team members to be able to view feedback as positive, Marc role models and then coaches everyone to ask permission to give feedback before proceeding. This sets a supportive stage. In this way feedback is being delivered not as attacking the person but attacking the problem towards alternative behaviors. This approach to communication results in more productive, engaged and motivated employees, which in turn improves the retention and attraction of clients.

Spinutech’s Hiring and Onboarding Process

Marc’s hiring process aims to hire team members who are culturally-fit in terms of getting better everyday, doing the right thing, and supporting one another. Their thorough screening process results in hiring only 0.06% of all applicants. Spinutech has a knack for creating the “best first day” for their newly hired team members. Since the company is virtual, they immediately send newly hired team members all necessary equipment and a personalized swag box. The idea is to make new team members feel included and valued.

The Characteristics of a Good Leader

According to Marc, being a good leader has different meanings or definitions. But here are three (3) important characteristics that a leader must possess.

Core Values Model – Being a good role model for the company’s core values plays a huge role in being an inspirational leader. This way, all team members embody and practice the core values.
Bottom-Up View – Leaders should create interactive sessions for viewing the organization from the bottom-up. In this way, leaders can support the entire organization, just like a champagne stack that overflows.
Eradicating Stress Points – By keeping the big picture in mind, leaders should demonstrate and coach others on recognizing and acting upon potential problems ahead of time. This proactive mindset eradicates potential stress points that could affect the whole organization.

Who is Marc Reifenrath?

You won’t find anyone more passionate about culture than Marc Reifenrath. As one of the original founders and the current CEO of Spinutech, he understands firsthand how critical a company’s culture is to achieving and maintaining success. Marc has seen Spinutech grow from a college start-up to one of the premier full-service digital marketing agencies in the country.

He would be the first to tell you that Spinutech would not be what it is today without a team of people who are as invested in each other’s growth and success as they are in delivering the best for their clients. When he has time away from growing his team and working with clients, Marc enjoys family time, golfing, and traveling — in that order.