Corporate Culture, Part 1: How Do You Define Your Work Culture?
An organization’s corporate culture contains the ingrained attitude and motivations of the employee base. A strong culture optimizes your employee’s work performance while simultaneously creating dedicated, enthusiastic attitudes.
Culture should not be viewed as a ‘one size fits all’ approach, but rather a strategic way for organizations to build a competitive advantage based on their work style and approach.
"Strong corporate culture is built on highly engaged and motivated employees that believe in their organization."
However, we believe at the heart of any strong culture are highly engaged and motivated employees that believe in their organization. Engaged employees exhibit three core values that are best used to leverage employee engagement for a cohesive and dynamic corporate culture:
Respect: An organization demonstrates a clear commitment to inclusion, equitable access to opportunities, and adherence to anti-discrimination and sexual harassment policies. An inclusive culture with a high level of respect helps attract and retain talent and fosters better team dynamics. Diverse and inclusive teams tend to be more engaged, creative, and perform better as a result.
Innovation: An organization fosters creative thinking throughout every department and employment level, using optimal team dynamics that lead to new product development and new lines of revenue. Innovative organizations tend to grow faster, create more varied products, and adapt more easily to fast-changing market conditions.
Performance: An organization sets the highest standards of work quality, helps minimize mistakes, and boosts employee productivity. Executives set clear expectations and encourage employee growth and development. High Performance organizations are able to reduce costs, especially during periods of firm transition.
Does your corporate culture contain all three values? What levers does your organization need to pull in order to create that ideal culture?