What is Company Culture ?
A company’s culture is a collection of self-sustaining patterns and habits which are instinctive, repetitive and determine the way a company does things.
A more accurate way of describing company culture is; The shared set of values, attitudes, goals, and practices that characterizes the institution or organization.
Company culture can be compared to natural forces like wind, which are there in the background; sometimes unnoticed and other times noticed.
When an organization is at its best, company culture is going to energize its employees and it’s going to make people feel good about what they do to advance the strategic and operating priorities of the company.
Why is culture important?
The most important thing about the culture of a company is the environment that it creates. Healthy environments are where people feel not only connected to themselves, but also the company’s core values their colleagues, and also the customer or end-user. Creating an environment where deep connections happen in all four of these areas is one where innovation thrives.
A successful company culture brings together the people in your company, unites them, and keeps them aligned with the company’s goals. The culture at your organization sets expectations for how people behave and work together, and how well they function as a team.
The people that you work with are the most important resource within your company; it is not the product, nor the technology. Therefore, getting to know your people both personally and professionally will not only lead to a better environment but also better results for your company.
It is important to hire people who fit into the company’s culture because every single hire can change the culture either positively or negatively. If you make too many compromises in your hiring decision you will end up with an imbalance in your culture which negatively affects your company. We offer recruitment service – Stellarhr
Company Culture Ice-berg
Company culture goes deeper than the surface, we can think of it as an iceberg. An iceberg is much bigger underneath the surface. The surface culture composes of the artifacts of the company, the logo, the slogans the mission, the vision, and what people see.
However, the most important things happen underneath the surface, these are the Goals, philosophies, or conscious statements made by the organization. If you get the things happening beneath the surface right, then most of the other things like delivering great service or building a long-term enduring brand will just happen naturally.
3 Ways to create a work culture that brings out the best in Employees
1. Unblock Communication
When people feel like they are not being heard, respected, or considered in the workplace they become demotivated. About all of us have experienced having our ideas being shot down, when it happens, we tend to feel like we have been attacked on a personal level and we tend to respond to that by shutting off. Our reaction is to stop caring about our work and caring so much about the people around us.
To avoid this pitfall we need to continually invite people to speak up at work because making these invitations just a routine part of how we engage with each other in the workplace, lays the really important groundwork that is needed for those times when people have to speak up and be heard on issues that are hard for management to hear.
2. Become responsive
We know that it’s not enough just to hear people out, words without action breed cynicism, they leave their seeds for future walkouts and fallouts within the organization.
However, here is the thing, people are not always going to agree, and in that fragile moment, it is going to determine the kind of culture that the company will have. Are you going to engage in dialogue and debate, can you stay unified even in dissent, or are you going to choose to skate over your differences and allow your relationships to become inauthentic?
3. Aim higher
To move to the next level, the strategies that you will use are going to determine whether you will rise to the next level. The first thing is to have people’s engagement. It should not be a top-down initiative, but rather a bottom-up initiative. Oftentimes, most organizations do not trust their people. It’s the people at the bottom and the middle and the people interacting that know the problems. They are the ones that are going to move you to the next level.
Therefore, invite people to bring their whole selves to work. When everyone brings their unique life experiences, the organization will have more to offer. People are more than just the sum of their resumes, when we invite people to bring their whole selves to work with all their unique strengths, values, passion, and experiences, they can now better serve not only their unique purpose, but also the company’s purpose.