The widely varying perspectives (and a passion for collaboration) around the Small Giants experience creates a tremendous amount of opportunity to discover insights that might not have been your focus at first glance. Kathy Steel of Red Caffeine Marketing and Technology shared her takeaways from the Small Giants Summit to help expand the conversation around building a great business.

During the 2015 Small Giants Summit in Dallas, TX, some of the local companies we admire opened their doors for a critical examination from their peers from around the world. Each company conducted a walkthrough to show how they applied their culture and values to the workplace and employee panels discussed how their culture applied at all levels. Company leaders also talked in an open dialogue about what works, what doesn’t, and why.

There is a direct correlation between the business culture of a company and its financial success, and people are the drivers of both. With this in mind, when hiring, it’s wise to focus more on finding someone who fits into the company culture rather than exclusively looking for certain skills. I base hiring decisions 60 percent on fit and 40 percent on skills.

This doesn’t mean simply hiring someone you like and hoping they can do the job. The goal should be to analyze the candidate’s personality and introduce the potential employee to the company’s culture, so you both can make the right decision.

What’s the common thread among co-workers, bosses, salary, commutes, contracts, vendors and just about everything you touch during the day? How can employers take some of the burden off of their employees and limit some of the common stresses? Workplace culture is the key. The culture of an organization is the “why” of the organization, and if the culture is a positive one, many workplace stresses are minimized or can even disappear.