ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE (BLOG - 3)

 

Figure 1: Organizational Culture

 

A great organizational culture is the key to developing the traits necessary for business success. And you’ll see its effects in your bottom line: companies with healthy cultures are 1.5 times more likely to experience revenue growth of 15 percent or more over three years and 2.5 times more likely to experience significant stock growth over the same period. Despite this, only 31 percent of HR leaders believe their organizations have the culture they need to drive future business, and getting there is no easy task — 85 percent of organizations fail in transforming their cultures.

This is a comprehensive guide to making culture a major strength of your organization, from what culture is and why it’s important to a roadmap you can follow to create a culture that delivers results time after time.

What is organizational culture?

Organizational culture is the collection of values, expectations, and practices that guide and inform the actions of all team members. Think of it as the collection of traits that make your company what it is. A great culture exemplifies positive traits that lead to improved performance, while a dysfunctional company culture brings out qualities that can hinder even the most successful organizations.

Don’t confuse culture with organizational goals or a mission statement, although both can help define it. Culture is created through consistent and authentic behaviors, not press releases or policy documents. You can watch company culture in action when you see how a CEO responds to a crisis, how a team adapts to new customer demands, or how a manager corrects an employee who makes a mistake.

The importance of culture to your company

Organizational culture affects all aspects of your business, from punctuality and tone to contract terms and employee benefits. When workplace culture aligns with your employees, they’re more likely to feel more comfortable, supported, and valued. Companies that prioritize culture can also weather difficult times and changes in the business environment and come out stronger.

Figure 2: Importance of Culture

Qualities of a great organizational culture

Every organization’s culture is different, and it’s important to retain what makes your company unique. However, the cultures of high-performing organizations consistently reflect certain qualities that you should seek to cultivate:

•  Alignment comes when the company’s objectives and its employees’ motivations are all pulling in the same direction. Exceptional organizations work to build continuous alignment to their vision, purpose, and goals.

•  Appreciation can take many forms: a public kudos, a note of thanks, or a promotion. A culture of appreciation is one in which all team members frequently provide recognition and thanks for the contributions of others.

 •  Trust is vital to an organization. With a culture of trust, team members can express themselves and rely on others to have their back when they try something new.

Figure 3: Great Organizational Culture

• Performance is key, as great companies create a culture that means business. In these companies, talented employees motivate each other to excel, and, as shown above, greater profitability and productivity are the results.

 

•  Resilience is a key quality in highly dynamic environments where change is continuous. A resilient culture will teach leaders to watch for and respond to change with ease.

 

•  Teamwork encompasses collaboration, communication, and respect between team members. When everyone on the team supports each other, employees will get more done and feel happier while doing it.

Figure 4: Teamwork 

•  Integrity, like trust, is vital to all teams when they rely on each other to make decisions, interpret results, and form partnerships. Honesty and transparency are critical components of this aspect of culture.

 

•  Innovation leads organizations to get the most out of available technologies, resources, and markets. A culture of innovation means that you apply creative thinking to all aspects of your business, even your own cultural initiatives.

 

•  Psychological safety provides the support employees need to take risks and provide honest feedback. Remember that psychological safety starts at the team level, not the individual level, so managers need to take the lead in creating a safe environment where everyone feels comfortable contributing. Now that you know what a great culture looks like, let’s tackle how to build one in your organization. (Wong, 2023)

 

WHAT ARE ORGANIZATIONAL SUBCULTURES?

Rather than changing an entire organization’s culture, an organization can be adaptable and agile by allowing certain types of subcultures to emerge. Organizational subcultures are groups whose common characteristic is a shared norm or belief (Boisnier & Chatman, 2002).

Subcultures are classified as enhancing, orthogonal, or counterculture, each exemplifying a different level of congruence with the dominant culture’s values (Martin & Siehl, 1983). Members of enhancing subcultures adhere to dominant organizational culture values even more enthusiastically than members of the rest of the organization. Members of orthogonal subcultures both embrace the dominant culture’s values and hold their own set of distinct, but not conflicting, values. Finally, members of a counterculture disagree with the core values of the dominant culture and hold values that directly conflict with core organizational values.

While having a deeply embedded organizational culture is usually associated with higher performance, these organizations may not be adaptive enough to ensure their long-term survival. Organizations may, therefore, become more agile by allowing subcultures to emerge. (gothamculture.com, 2023)

Conclusion

While there is widespread agreement that organizational cultures transformations do exist and that they are a key driver in shaping organizational behaviors, pinpointing an exact definition of the concept is a difficult undertaking.

An absolute definition would allow not only for a more rigorous study of organizational culture, but also increase our understanding of how it influences other organizational outcomes such as productivity, employee engagement, and commitment. One thing is undoubtedly known about culture: It is constantly being created, changed, and splintered to ensure the success of its parent organization.

References

Boisnier, A. C. (2023, 4 30). The Role of Subcultures in Agile Organizations. Retrieved from Forthcoming: Leading and managing people in dynamic organizations

gothamculture.com. (2023, 4 30). WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE? Retrieved from gothamculture.com: https://gothamculture.com/what-is-organizational-culture-definition/

Moussavi, S. (2023, 4 30). Types of Organisational (Organizational) Culture. Retrieved from www.linkedin.com: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-types-organisational-culture-sepideh-moussavi?trk=read_related_article-card_title

Wong, K. (2023, 4 30). Organizational Culture: Definition, Importance, and Development. Retrieved from www.achievers.com: https://www.achievers.com/blog/organizational-culture-definition/