I became the CEO of finnCap nine years ago, when I completed the buy out of my business from its larger owner. Many brokers were operated in a stereotypical manner but I resolved to adopt a refreshing corporate attitude.

They shared a broadly similar culture, which was fairly aggressive, as well as a ruthless hire and fire mentality. Little emphasis was placed on career progression, or training and listening to staff. There wasn’t much interest in employing a diverse range of employees.

I wanted to create a different culture that perhaps had not existed in a traditional banking setting before. My vision was to create a workplace, where our team would want to come to work. It would be a collaborative environment where everyone’s views mattered. Every member of staff would know that their career progression was taken seriously and all would be treated fairly. Most importantly, and especially given the long hours of work that we all put in, fun was at the heart of it all.

I have since invested a significant amount of time and energy in developing the finnCap culture. This has been an ongoing project as the company continues to grow. The more growth you experience, the harder it is to keep the culture in place.

I am convinced this positive corporate culture differentiates finnCap from its peers and it has been crucial to our success, in helping to attract and retain the best talent. Our values have been consistent to build a certain trust within the team. Implementing a conducive and collaborative corporate culture enables new businesses to gain market share rapidly. And this is exactly what finnCap has done.

It is difficult to sum up finnCap’s corporate culture, but what we are, (and I hope the company represents) is: a firm that listens, treats people fairly and with respect. It allows employees to have an equity stake in the business no matter how small. It is a place where employees can trust management and are given freedom to develop their careers and galvanise their entrepreneurial spirit.

Corporate family

FinnCap believes in strong performance management and training in order to get the best out of the team. This involves opening up opportunity for people to perform and rewarding them appropriately. We don’t like politics and, above all, we consider ourselves a family.

The key to maintaining this ethos is to make it a daily part of the workplace and ensure any deviations from it, irrespective of magnitude, are resolved. Culture can change very quickly if you don’t keep on top of it.

People are often the most important factor when it comes to business success, and they are significant assets for most organisations. Recruiting the right people with the right cultural fit has been my most important and time consuming job. I am always on the lookout for the right personality that works for our business. Where I have had doubts on cultural fit, they proved to be mistakes. This showed that you can’t compromise on your culture and if attitudes do not match, it is not something you can change.

Culture is not tangible. It is a sum of values, knowledge, attitudes and experiences created over the lifetime of an organisation. Culture should stay at the forefront of one’s mind, as it is the small details that make a big difference. In addition to dealing with deviations from corporate culture quickly, it is important to talk to staff regularly to get a sense check. And finally, corporate culture is led from the top.