Organizational culture is a crucial aspect of a business. Whether you're a new employee or a seasoned veteran, company culture is ingrained in your daily routines.
However, this is a complex concept to understand and define. Some perspectives focus on consensus and consistency organizationwide while others discount this aspect of culture in favor of ambiguity.
Mission and Values
One way to think about organizational culture is as the pattern of assumptions that lead to behavior in a particular organization. These assumptions can be conscious or unconscious, and they can be hard to change.
For example, your company's culture may promote innovation and a commitment to work-life balance, but the actual working environment is more focused on high-performance goals and limited flexibility. Your company's values are not likely to be reflected in reality, which can cause dissonance that can affect employee performance and satisfaction.
Another approach to Employee Engagement emphasizes that it's a collection of different subcultures within the organization. The key to success is to find common ground among the different groups. This way, everyone can get on board with the values that are most important to the company. This type of organizational culture also tends to be more flexible and less stable, but it can still be effective. It's usually called a "clan" or a "collaborate" culture.
Employee Engagement
In order to build a strong company culture, it's critical that employees feel engaged. Employees who feel a sense of belonging and connection to the organization are more likely to stay longer, leading to decreased turnover. Creating a culture that promotes career development, mentoring programs and fostering work-life balance can boost morale and employee satisfaction.
Organizational culture is commonly viewed as the ensemble of beliefs, assumptions, values, norms, artifacts, behaviors and language patterns that distinguish an organization from others. These are the explicit and implicit rules of conduct that guide and define the ways in which a group functions.
One of the best things you can do to improve company culture is to make sure employees are recognized for their contributions. Practicing recognition techniques like points-based rewards and social recognition is a great way to do this. It's also important to listen to employee feedback through pulse and lifecycle surveys. This helps you uncover what aspects of your culture are working and where you may need to take action.
Workplace Culture
Often invisible to outsiders, a company's culture is the collection of beliefs, assumptions and values that characterize it. These may be articulated in a formal philosophy, or simply implied in the "rules of the road" for getting along within the organization ("the way we do things around here").
It's important to get clear on your company's values and lay out what type of culture you want to have. Then make sure your leaders and long-term employees are aligned on this, and that you're incorporating these into all employee interactions.
Businesses that prioritize a great work culture are more likely to be successful than those who don't. In fact, one study found that companies with strong cultures saw a 682% increase in revenue over eleven years.
Hiring
The values and attitudes that characterize an organization's culture can impact who will apply for open positions, accept the job offer and stay for a long time. That's why hiring for culture fit is a great way to ensure your recruitment strategy aligns with business goals.
If an employee's personal values do not match your culture, they will likely struggle to adjust to your workplace and may be a negative influence on other employees. In some cases, it's best to pass on a candidate who does not meet your cultural needs to keep peace and productivity in the office.
When you have a clear understanding of your culture, you can encourage your leadership team to take an active role in building it out. A few key techniques include setting up employee resource groups, engaging in casual conversations during meetings and encouraging the use of engagement, pulse and lifecycle surveys. Having an open, transparent dialogue about culture is a powerful signal to new hires that they are welcomed and valued from the get-go.
