UB insider: why it pays to put effort into company culture.

• Author: Christensen, Lisa
• Position: Around Utah - MaritzCX

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Salt Lake City-When building a company, it pays to pay attention to building the culture of the people building it, said MARITZCX CEO Carine Clark at the Utah Economic Summit in April.

Clark has studied building and defending culture extensively in her own experience, and talks about it often, Including at a presentation In one of the summit's breakout sessions. Clark also sat down with Utah Business for an Interview on the subject, as part of the UB Insider podcast series.

"I have a passion for what we're doing ... and culture sits right at the center of that. I think not enough people pay attention to whether their culture is helping them drive their business, because at the end of the day, happier employees equals happier customers, and an employee set that's loyal, that can thrive, will be ones that are loyal, that will stay with you. You're making huge investments in this asset--you're paying their salary, you're giving them healthcare, you're hopefully giving them really nice benefits--why wouldn't you pay attention to how the culture develops?" she said. "I think too many companies just let things happen, they don't pull out any weeds, they don't really decide where the boundaries should be--they just end up having it."

Part of building a strong company culture is reflecting on what things you yourself want and need to be successful, Clark said. "As a busy executive of a fast-growing company, you have to be really thoughtful about where you spend your time, because you have things that are urgent, and you have things that are important, and so do your employees," she said. "What we're building is technology, but we're also...