Workplace culture, also called a company or corporate culture, includes an organization’s philosophy, values, expectations and experiences that are the ‘glue’ that holds the organization together. It is based on shared beliefs, attitudes, written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time. We believe that organizations who survive have a clear purpose, mission and core values.
A client who talks about ‘empowering the employees’ and providing ‘leadership’ but allows managers to say things to their employees such as “Just do your job. Don’t bother me with questions” is sending a different message. The way managers treat the employees is an indicator of an organization’s culture. It’s the reason we see social media posts from former employees who say, “the company culture is not good.” A company’s culture should be aligned with its Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). The performance evaluation program should include the KPI’s along with management competencies such as developing and encouraging desired actions and behavior, regular communications with employees, and support of their team members. There’s an increased demand for a workplace that supports remote and/or flexible work schedules. Remote work will only become more common in 2019. Another area that we’ve seen organizations doing is documenting the culture. This includes identifying “Who we are”, “How do we operate?” and “What knowledge sharing information do new hires need?”.
It’s important to keep in mind the unprecedented pace of change that organizations go through. In a September, 2018 Mercer Consulting revealed that culture issues can derail mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions. Additional findings from Mercer’s “Mitigating Culture Risk to Drive Deal Value” report say that 61% of respondents selected “How leaders behave, not just what they say” as the number one driver of organizational culture. Our experience with M&A’s and new start-ups support Mercer’s findings.
No matter where an organization is in their life cycle, leaders who embody their culture outshine the competition. Today’s leaders realize that culture is important to their bottom line, reputation and how they can have engaged employees who thrive.
Do you know your workplace culture? The Bradley Partnerships, Inc. can help you transform your workplace culture by conducting an organizational and culture assessment. Please contact us at info@bradleypartnerships.com to request more information.