An organisation’s culture is the bed rock on which organisations can deliver success. Sophie Hennekam, Professor in Management, Audencia Business School, Nantes gives a guide to creating and maintaining a great place to be.
Organisational culture is a set of values, beliefs, attitudes, systems, and rules that shape and guide employee behaviour within an organisation. It emerges from the interplay of multiple factors, such as the founder’s personality, vision for the company, values, and assumptions. From this foundation, the founder establishes policies, practices, and structures that reflect their preferences and beliefs.
An organisation’s culture is maintained by attracting, selecting, and recruiting individuals who align with its mission and vision. Typically, organisations provide an onboarding process for newcomers, where they communicate the expected ways of working and desirable behaviours, embodying the organisation’s norms and values. Similarly, reward systems—whether in the form of praise, financial incentives, or promotional opportunities—tend to reflect what is valued and deemed desirable within the organisation. Finally, leadership and management styles offer insights into the organisation’s culture, particularly in terms of how individuals are treated and interact with one another. These organisational practices collectively serve to maintain and reinforce the existing culture.
Why does an organisational culture change?
Organisational cultures are adaptable and open to change. Indeed, they are not static and are in constant interaction with their external environment. For example, there might be a change in leadership, a restructuring, a merger or acquisition, or fluctuations in labour market demand and supply, resulting in organisations having more or less ‘power’ in the job market. The reasons for change can be imposed from outside such as changing market conditions, but can also come from within the organisation when performance is down, or when a shift in strategic direction occurs.
Why a Positive Organisational Culture Matters and How to Cultivate It
A healthy organisational culture has been linked to economic growth, lower employee turnover and absenteeism, higher productivity, engagement and performance, as well as fewer challenges in attracting and retaining talent thanks to the organisation’s positive image. This raises the question of how organisations can foster the creation of a positive organisational culture. Here are six tips to help:
- Create a safe environment:
Organisations should establish a safe environment where individuals feel comfortable being their authentic selves. It is crucial that individuals feel empowered to speak up when issues arise. Therefore, implementing tools that allow employees to express dissatisfaction, and ensuring their feedback is considered, is essential.
- Provide purpose:
Organisations should ensure that employees understand how their job fits into the bigger picture and purpose of the company. Having a job that individuals find meaningful is becoming increasingly important. Consequently, allowing all employees, at all levels and in all positions, to understand how their tasks contribute in some way to something they care about will increase their motivation, engagement and improve talent retention. In addition, we see that employees’ enthusiasm for the cause they are serving is often contagious and can spread throughout the organisation.
- Walk the talk:
When it comes to communication, leadership, and management styles, ensuring that the organisation ‘walks the talk’ fosters trust and integrity among employees. A disconnect between words and actions tends to have a strong demotivating effect on employees.
Transparency and authenticity are essential in building a positive organisational culture.
- Show recognition and appreciation:
Employees want to feel valued and appreciated. This can be achieved through simple gestures, such as praising a job well done, offering a compliment, or other ways to show that the organisation recognises employees’ contributions and efforts.
- Provide regular individual feedback:
Employees appreciate knowing how they are performing, so regular individual feedback is often well received. Additionally, when an organisation invests in its employees, they do not only feel valued, but also develop a sense of gratitude, making them more likely to remain with their employer.
- Create positive experiences:
In addition to providing a safe environment, transparent communication, and a sense of value, organisations should consider ways to create positive workplace experiences for their employees. This might include offering healthy and tasty lunches, paid time off, access to sports facilities, team-building activities, or any other perks that make employees look forward to coming to work.
In conclusion, fostering a positive organisational culture can unlock a wealth of benefits for both employees and the organisation as a whole. Recognising this, many organisations are committed to building a culture that supports its staff, boosts their morale and drives success. By embracing effective practices, companies can strengthen and improve their culture, creating an environment where employees thrive, and the organisation reaps the rewards.
