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Does Culture Really Matter? You Bet!
Corporate culture at its most basic level is the "sum of an organization's behaviors and practices." When we talk about culture that drives business performance, we don't mean a great place to work (although it's often part of the picture). Great places to work have certainly been linked to strong business, but "employer of choice" efforts may fall prey to budget cuts in hard times or not deliver if they're disconnected from "the business." (For example, Enron demonstrated how buying employee commitment through perks doesn't equate to a culture that drives long-term success.)
A high-performance culture that supports your organization's success—even in hard times—needs to be deliberately shaped with:
- A clear, compelling corporate mission or purpose that informs business decisions, generates customer loyalty, ignites employee passion, and inspires discretionary effort.
- Shared organizational values that guide employee behavior and influence business practices as your organization delivers on its promises to customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Business strategies will shift—your core values should not.
- An environment that encourages individual ownership of the organization's bottom-line results and its cultural foundation.
What Does It Take?
Communicating and Walking Your "Talk." Does everyone understand what you stand for as an organization (your purpose), where you're going (your strategic direction), and your "rules of the road" for getting there (your shared values)? If not, it's unlikely that employees will be clear enough on what's expected of them to perform as needed - and they certainly won't care enough to give 110 percent. If you think you've communicated sufficiently, you're probably wrong! Weave your purpose, values, and business goals into all written and verbal communications over and over. Tell stories that highlight specific examples of your culture at its best. Detailed, sensory-rich stories help employees translate concepts into day-to-day job behaviors.
Values are "lived" in high-performance cultures. Are your leaders modeling yours? Pay particular attention to your middle managers (they score significantly lower than senior execs in our research) on this front. Actions speak louder than words - especially during difficult times. Leaders who walk the talk earn credibility, inspire similar behavior, and help employees find meaning in what they do each day.
Source: www.shrm.org
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