What Is Company Culture?
The concept of company culture can feel elusive and intangible. What exactly is it? Why is it important? Who is responsible for its creation?
Whether you’ve considered it or not, your company already possesses a culture, for better or for worse. Company culture plays a pivotal role in shaping the well-being of employees and significantly impacts their engagement, productivity, and overall satisfaction. It also fuels innovation, collaboration and team success. When you look back on your previous experiences in different organizations, you'll likely recall the stark contrast between working in unhealthy cultures and thriving in healthy ones, and how each environment influenced your ability to succeed.
Simply put, culture is how we interact. It manifests through people's actions and behaviours. Some cultural elements are overt, such as vision, mission, and core values, while most operate beneath the surface, like assumptions, beliefs, expectations, and biases. We all play a part in shaping our team's culture through our actions, with leaders holding the greatest power to influence an organization by virtue of their position.
Our Favourite Culture Read
One of our team's favourite reads on company culture is The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle. His research teaches us the elements that make up exceptional company culture:
Building Safety and Belonging: Creating a sense of connection within the team where individuals feel free to be themselves without fear.
Sharing Vulnerability: Encouraging openness, embracing failures, and engaging in difficult conversations.
Establishing Purpose: Ensuring everyone knows the company's direction and how their role contributes to its success.
Culture Pulse Check — Take the Self-Assessment
Identifying the aspects of your team and company culture worth celebrating and those that require more intentional focus to cultivate is a crucial step in creating an environment where individuals can flourish.
By fostering a culture that values its people, you're not just enhancing their experience at work, but also nurturing an environment where everyone can contribute their best, ultimately leading to a happier, more successful organization. Whee!