To many people, company culture has been a buzzword as the majority relate it with great culture, latest perks like free snacks, ping-pong, or napping pods. These perks seem to be nice enough but when it comes to a company’s culture, it is about who the organization is at the deepest level. A proper organization’s culture depends on the beliefs, values, behaviors, and attitudes that the employees share on a regular basis.
The culture of the company is the way the employees speak about where they work and how aptly they fit into the structure of the company. While there are some who wonder whether the culture of the company matters, the answer is certainly yes!
How should you go about creating a positive and strong company culture? Here are a few vital characteristics that you should watch out for:
A company culture that is purpose-driven
When a company is said to have a successful culture, it means that the employees should have a proper sense of the purpose of the company. They should have a clear understanding of their short-term and long-term goals. This is extremely crucial because a company with purpose also focuses on moving resources and people forward to accomplish goals instead of just managing them.
Purpose and intent are an inspirational driver that engages communities and employees. Whenever a leader sets forth a clear goal for the company, this becomes a driving factor for engaging employees and offering them a strong source of motivation. In short, the capabilities, strategies, and culture of the company become the main engine behind the purpose of the company.
Compelling patterns of communication
Within successful and flourishing organizations, intriguing communication patterns include courtesy, clarity, and proactivity. Clarity is one of the most important elements in proper communication as it is imperative for information and messages to be transferred in a clear, transparent, and concise manner. This is true irrespective of where the messages come from, from teams or employees, or managers.
Courtesy is one more aspect of communication and it lets messages be transferred within an environment of respect and safety. It manifests respect for the other person and sets a safe environment for the message.
Proactivity is one more critical aspect of an effective pattern of communication as the only way of initiating a productive discussion is by being proactive. In reality, this means that the parties in the discussion should be looking forward rather than concentrating on the past and participating in blame-game.
A culture of accepting feedback positively
Feedback is great for a company for more than one reason. An organization can reach the zenith of success only when it can accept both positive and negative feedback. Why should a company accept feedback? This is because feedback can push a company towards performing better. In order to create an open company culture that is feedback-oriented, people have to be receptive. They should know when to give feedback and how to give it.
Feedback may come from various places and people. These could be external or internal and this feedback could be regarding any part of the company life, including vision and leadership, internal practices, and company operations. When there is a proper culture of feedback, this not only means that the feedback is received and given but the way it is given, whether clearly, safely, or productively.
A culture of teamwork
The heart of every successful organization culture is to create, improve and celebrate teamwork. Teamwork will always focus on the accomplishments of the team rather than on personal achievements. Teamwork always boosts collaboration, allows tasks to be completed on time, faster, better, and in a more effective manner. Although it is true that the success of a team depends on the characteristics of the team members, yet it is also derived from the structure.
Companies should offer their employees meaningful work by developing a comprehensible organizational purpose. Any form of guidance and norms should be clear and transparent in both words and deeds. Management should encourage departmental and employee collaboration and discourage competition. Management should lookout to earn loyalty by offering opportunities for employees’ professional and financial escalation and growth. The most important aspect would be to provide timely, productive feedback and respect ideas from all viewpoints. It is to be remembered that a poor company culture often leads to a consequence of alienation of employees and thereby their disengagement and this has a costly consequences in organization performance in the short and long run. There are scientific studies which lead to definitive proof that corporate culture is directly related to organizational performance.
Employees usually perform best when the environment of an office is growth oriented. If you’re a student of business management DBA, you may take courses on company culture development and study how to manage business and people operations.
