You often hear about successful organizations—Google included—that have what is referred to as a “great culture.” Great corporate cultures are often described as being ethical or innovative, for example; negative culture is often described as toxic.
Is there really such a thing as the perfect organizational culture? Why is it that culture is notoriously difficult to describe, measure, and alter, yet it is crucial to an organization’s success? Read on to learn more about what culture means, how it can be measured, and why it’s okay to want to be different.
Why focus on corporate culture?
Instead of delving head first into how to recognize and measure corporate culture, I want to take a step back and look at what makes up an organization’s culture, and why it’s so important.
Coming from an Organizational Development background, I have seen first-hand how an organization’s culture has a direct impact on employee engagement and motivation, subsequent retention rates, and ultimately whether the organization is successful.
From the outset, defining culture in itself is no easy feat, partly due to the lack of consensus on what it really is. Many sources speak of the values and behaviors that contribute to an organization’s environment. These sources define culture as the shared attitudes, beliefs, and customs of an organization, and is built around a set of written and unwritten rules, influenced and molded by:
- Policies and procedures
- Organizational structure
- Leadership styles
- Employee reward structures
- Corporate sector, e.g. legal, technology, manufacturing
- Although a company’s culture develops through its people, systems, and working environment, its influence is external, having an impact on stakeholders, customers, and the wider public perception of that company. Put it this way: When it comes to company culture, your reputation can either propel you to greatness or destroy you.
Let’s explore this further:
Would you feel comfortable purchasing goods from a store whose employees were clearly not happy? What if you heard from others how they’d previously had a negative experience with a company you were looking to invest in?
Again, reputation is something that can’t be seen or touched, but is extremely valuable. That’s why it’s critical to measure culture so you can more easily understand it, monitor it, and—if required—put strategies in place to change it.