If you're looking for a guide on how to develop your company's organizational culture, this is not the article that provides step-by-step instructions. However, if you read through to the end, you'll understand why it's crucial to foster a meaningful, authentic, and relevant organizational culture.
In recent years, organizational culture has become a highly relevant topic within the modern human resources industry. Although HR professionals pay close attention to it, there is a perception that it’s only relevant for large companies and its complexity means only a few organizations have the time, resources, or dedicated experts necessary to cultivate a solid organizational culture.
Your team is the heart of organizational culture development
Beyond the textbook definition of 'organizational culture,' it essentially consists of a set of informal rules that guide how a team functions, regardless of its size, industry, or longevity. These rules, values, and visions are born with the founding of a company, are inspired by its founders / investors, and gradually take root within the team itself.
Organizational culture isn't limited to just corporations and established companies. Every team has its own identity, which is reflected in its norms, values, visions, and aspirations. Even if these aren't documented in procedures, regulations, or displayed on visible signs, the culture still manifests in the team's dynamics. This leads us to another important aspect - authenticity and relevance. Even companies within the same industry or geographical area differ through distinct elements of their organizational culture. A company's identity cannot be replicated, copied, or artificially imposed.
Omnipresent, visible, and dynamic
The most practical way to observe and shape an organization's culture is through team activities and key business events: hiring, organizational restructuring, making company-wide decisions, and handling crises. These moments reveal the team's true convictions and how closely managers stick to their publicly declared values. This authenticity involves embracing the identity, which is never static.
Organizational culture is also reflected in how a business treats its employees and other stakeholders, the way colleagues interact with each other, and the company's leadership style. Some firms establish organizational culture manuals, procedures that put the company's values into practice, habits that cultivate it, and other mechanisms to keep the culture alive. A coherent organizational culture always arises through deliberate development—if company leaders don’t value it, the team's culture will manifest randomly.
Organizational culture benefits the entire company
Finally, we come to the question posed in the article's title: why is organizational culture important? Just as DNA contains the genetic information of a being, organizational culture forms the foundation of the values, norms, and behaviors that shape a company's identity. Without it, a company would be incomplete. At the same time, by establishing an authentic culture, more meaning is given to the work performed by employees, parameters are set that guide the company's activities, and thus a reputation is created for the external public.
Here is a complete list of all the benefits for developing organizational culture:
- To attract the right talent, it’s essential to have a strong position in the job market. A company’s reputation is one of the key factors that motivate candidates to apply for a job.
- An additional non-salary benefit that costs nothing. Employees are more engaged in companies with an organizational culture that centers around their needs. Interested in other ways to motivate your employees? Check this out.
- A united team is a strong team. Organizational culture can foster collaboration, interaction, and knowledge sharing among colleagues.
- Standing out from competitors to connect with your customers. The values behind your products or services are crucial because customers are, first and foremost, people.
- Creating a supportive framework for decision-making. By defining core values in your business strategy and referring to this framework whenever significant decisions are on the horizon, the decision-making process becomes much more manageable.
The community module in Papervee is a great tool for fostering organizational culture in your company. It allows you to make important announcements, organize team events, and create a welcoming environment for interaction. It also helps you bring employees together, update the organizational chart, and celebrate milestones. Papervee is your digital ecosystem for efficient and well-organized HR processes.
