As famously said by Peter Drucker: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”
Strategy and culture are important to maintain organizational effectiveness. Strategy provides direction for action plan and helps in better decision making while culture of the organization helps in shaping behaviours and attitudes of employees. Individuals are known by their personal traits, in the same way Culture is personality of any organization. It constitutes of various elements such as vision, mission, values, goals and objectives, etc.
Company culture is important because employees today enjoy being at the workplace when they see they fit in that culture. Culture is categorized into the following types- Team first corporate culture (Team bonding and cross department collaboration is priority), elite corporate culture(Innovation and forward thinking is necessity), hierarchy corporate culture(bottom line is priority), horizontal(flexible and research oriented) and clan corporate culture (Major emphasis on employee engagement). An ideal company would be someone who could inculcate a blend of all these types.
Taking an example of Google which is very widely known for its company culture. The organization still feels like a small company with an informal atmosphere, even though it has grown tremendously over past decade. At lunchtime, almost everyone eats in the office cafe, sitting at whatever table has an opening and enjoying conversations with Googlers from different teams. Every employee is a hands-on contributor.
FirstMeridian bridges the cultural differences among its group companies through many initiatives. One of the best ways to manage culture difference is to have an open communication with the employees. At Innovsource, President of the company addresses all the employees during townhall every month about current scenario and future plans. The main agenda is to make sure that the employees feel there is transparency and agility as per the values of the company.
A Strong company culture tends to share several common attributes:
Autonomy: Successful organization comprehend that one of the best drivers of profitability is pride of ownership in one’s work. The employees therein are engaged to improve and work with self-governance, without micro-managing or hand-holding.
Performance: High-performing organizations place a major emphasis on the nature of work delivered as opposed to the quantity of hours put in. Accomplishments are routinely celebrated within the sight of colleagues, who are additionally urged to remember each other for achieving significant achievements.
Passion: Employees who are part of a strong culture tend to be united by a common path to purpose and not profits. When the goals of each employee align with the objectives of the organization, true transformation happens.
Therefore, it’s important to percolate company culture across the functions. One can consider through some of the following ways.
- Onboarding process which must be personalized so that it is more engaging, interesting and participatory
- Incentivizing employees for the work they perform by keeping personal aspects in mind
- Analysing the group dynamics to increase cohesiveness. Also understanding how current climate is affecting attitude of the employees by asking challenges faced in the business. As per current scenario, focus can be more on diversity initiatives.
Building a routine is essential to build a strong work culture. The culture of Innovsource is extremely vivacious and employee friendly. It is visible in the music played for half an hour every morning, during lunch break and in the evening every single day in the office. It really helps to refresh the mood of all the employees. Additionally, birthday celebration takes place every month during which birthday buddies of that month and all employees assemble together to cut the cake.
Overall, boosting and nurturing a positive culture has proven time and again to improve productivity and well-being of the organization. Investing resources into developing the right culture will contribute towards long term success of your company.
