There’s a popular saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
I’ve seen that play out in many startups, but I’m lucky I figured out early in my career that culture is everything.
It dictates how happy your employees are, directly boosts productivity, and attracts top-tier talent, which ultimately influences revenue growth.
However, maintaining culture while scaling can be challenging.
I joined Kora when the company had less than 25 employees; now, we’re pushing 150. Scaling from 25 to 100+ employees is like going from managing a band of five to a full orchestra overnight.
You must structure everything, from collaboration to decision-making and even inside jokes.
Scaling introduces new markets, processes, customers, and people. As this happens, so does the challenge of preserving company culture. What was once a close-knit team can quickly turn into a fragmented workforce where original values are diluted if you’re not careful.
It’s not just values on a slide deck, it’s how people work, think, and interact daily. Early on, culture naturally forms around founders and first employees, but as you cross 50, 100, or 150 employees, culture can no longer be left to chance. So, how do you ensure you don’t lose what made your company special initially as you scale?
How do you build culture in a company? Culture is shaped through conscious decisions and subconscious habits.
Here is how to do it.
1. Define your core values early
Values shouldn’t just be words on the walls of your office; they should drive decisions, hiring, and team dynamics. They should even define the kind of customers you work with and the partnerships you build.
For example, at Kora, we didn’t settle for generic values; we identified behaviours that truly define us. When we debated prioritising a high-revenue but high-maintenance merchant, our “customer” value made it clear that we wouldn’t compromise long-term trust for short-term gain.
This is how we approach issues, and it actively shapes how we prioritise tasks, solve problems, and develop products. So, define the values and the creed your company lives by.
To start, you can follow this simple guide to build yours.
2. Make sure managers lead by example
This might sound cliché, but you’d be surprised by how many managers don’t do this.
Culture isn’t built through memos and emails; it’s modelled through actions, from how you share feedback with your team members to how you react under pressure.
So, live the culture.
Openness and transparency help promote leadership by example. We made sure we drove this home for all team leads at Kora. We were very open about company updates from day one, ensuring transparency at every level. This naturally flows down from team leads to other team members. And it’s a continuous process we push.
Don’t just encourage collaboration; demonstrate it. It reduces operating in silos and builds a healthy cross-functional company.
3. Define your culture with the entire team
Don’t build a culture for people to imbibe; instead, collaborate and build it with everyone.
This way, they become champions of the culture because they were part of it. Also, some of their essence is infused into the culture, so they don’t feel out of place over the coming years.
For Kora, we spoke to employees across all levels, handpicking individuals to collaborate on defining what makes us unique. It took some time, but why rush to build something that’ll define your company for years?
This collective effort ensured that our culture truly represented who we are rather than just being aspirational statements we had no connection to.
4. Hire for culture add and not just fit
If your culture is rigid, you’re building a cult.
Sometimes, bring in people who are different–in a good way–from the culture you’ve built. This requires trusting your gut. But a good rule of thumb is asking, “Are these new values something I can adopt myself?”
Early at Kora, we leaned heavily into hiring for “culture fit,” bringing in people with similar backgrounds and working methods. It made hiring feel seamless because we were building a team that just “clicked.”
There was a time when we considered a candidate who didn’t quite fit the culture. The person had a different background that challenged the status quo. We hesitated but took the leap.
Within months, they became one of Kora’s most valuable voices, helping the company break out of echo chambers, improve decision-making, and push beyond our established patterns.
That’s when we realised we needed “culture add,” not just fit. Since then, we’ve deliberately hired people who bring different perspectives to the culture. This has made us more adaptable, innovative, and stronger as a company. Our hiring process now assesses cultural contribution alongside technical skills, with panels evaluating alignment with our values and working style.
In addition, our onboarding ensures new hires are immersed in the culture from day one, with buddies, team champions, dedicated HR support, and manager connections, resulting in satisfaction scores exceeding 90%.
5. Build team practices and rituals
Traditions play a massive role in shaping culture as you scale, and these subconscious elements significantly influence your culture.
For example, at Kora, we have a bi-monthly All-hands call to celebrate birthdays, work anniversaries, and new hires. We also share company-wide updates because our team members work across over ten time zones, making missing information easy.
In addition, we host Deep Dive discussions on Tuesday evenings, which are a safe space for people to share their spicy takes on different topics. We also send internal monthly newsletters to keep everyone updated, maintain a #random Slack channel for memes and light-hearted content, and support various interest groups.
These practices might seem small, but they help people connect and reinforce our identity as we grow.
Find what works for you and adopt it.
6. Track key metrics to measure culture
Don’t assume you’re doing everything right. Track and measure key data points to be sure.
It’ll help you understand what’s working and what you need to improve and then act on those insights.
Tracking cultural health is a core business priority.
Measure key metrics like:
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): The higher this is, the more it shows that your company is where people want to stay.
Attrition rates and tenure: I boast of this at Kora. With an average tenure of more than two years, our attrition rate is less than 1%. Sometimes, it feels too good to be true. A high attrition rate, especially among long-tenured employees, can signal culture dilution.
Engagement: Track participation in cultural initiatives and company events. Low engagement is often an early warning sign of cultural misalignment.
Internal feedback: Gather direct input on how our culture is perceived through manager effectiveness and other internal surveys.
After measuring, if your insights indicate culture dilution, take steps to course-correct. Do that by reinforcing cultural storytelling and acting on employee feedback.
Making changes helps build trust in leadership and demonstrates commitment to the culture and the people.
7. Stay interviews over exit interviews
Don’t be that company that waits till employees leave before you gather “honest” feedback about the culture. Be proactive through periodic stay interviews.
These conversations help you understand what’s working, what’s not, and what you need to improve before issues escalate into disengagement or attrition.
Conduct quarterly stay interviews with team members. These conversations will give you real-time insights into employee satisfaction and engagement.
Ask questions like:
- What aspects of your role energise you the most?
- What obstacles are preventing you from doing your best work?
- How could we better support your career development?
This proactive approach will help you identify and address potential issues before they lead to dissatisfaction or departures.
8. Maintain communication as you scale
As companies grow, the founders and top management executives naturally become less accessible, and it’s inevitable. Ensure that employees feel heard and valued regardless of their level or role.
How do you ensure every voice is heard?
Build a solid feedback culture:
- Pulse checks: Track key themes, psychological safety, role clarity, growth, company alignment, manager effectiveness, recognition, and team collaboration.
- Open-door policy: Leaders should be approachable and make time for informal conversations with employees. At Kora, we push team leads to organise one-on-one meetings with all team members. This way, people feel heard, and we can easily catch issues before they become unmanageable.
Create effective feedback mechanisms:
- 360-degree feedback: Ensures employees give and receive feedback from peers, managers, and direct reports.
- Culture champions/Team champions: Designate team members across teams to help reinforce values and provide feedback on cultural misalignments/shifts.
Culture shouldn’t just sit in a section on a Notion doc; it’s what happens daily in how you work, hire, and grow.
Scaling doesn’t have to mean losing what makes your company special; it means intentionally keeping it alive.
Your culture will be your biggest competitive advantage if you do it right.
Adeteju Adeleye is the People & Culture Manager at Kora. Her experience cuts across all areas of Human Resources, particularly in the Technology industry. She has a track record of driving employee engagement and improving the overall employee experience across different employee touchpoints.
