If Aristotle were around in today’s world and was asked to define organizational culture, we think he’d add two words to his famous quote:
“We are what we repeatedly do at work.“
Organizational culture is a group of employees’ way of life. There are many factors that affect organizational culture, but what are they and how do we recognize these factors?
Here are five factors that affect organizational culture:
1. Top Leadership Principles
How an organization’s leadership team runs the business affects the policies, procedures and rules set for employees. Look at any great leader and you’ll see that the values and philosophies of that leader trickle down to employees to deliver end results for the organization.
Howard Schultz, the executive chairman and former CEO of Starbucks, is a leader that has a simple leadership philosophy: treat people with dignity and respect. This one philosophy appears time after time in the Starbucks organizational culture, and can be measured in the quality of service a customer experiences.
2. Nature Of The Business
The purpose, market and operations of an organization have an impact on employees’ behavior. Does your organization make a meaningful difference through your products and services in the lives of your clients and customers? That has a direct impact on your organizational culture and how your employees feel about working for you.
3. Company Values, Policies and Work Ambiance
Employees develop the values emphasized in the policies, procedures and work environment. At TruPath, we asked our employees to identify and define the fundamental truths that serve as the foundation for our system of beliefs and behaviors.
Our employees created five “TruPrinciples” and offered their definitions for each:
The TruPrinciples, or company values, guide our policies and behaviors to help promote an organizational culture that we all want to be a part of.
4. Clients and External Parties
Who you work with is one thing, but who you work for is another. The clients that the company serves are an often overlooked factor that affects organizational culture.
Why are clients part of the culture? Because these are the people that directly affect the employee’s well being. If a customer is upset and takes it out on an employee, that employee’s behavior directly impacts those around them. If a client has a big success and thanks the employee for a job well done, that employee can uplift their whole team.
5. Recruitment and Selection
Perhaps no factor is more important to organizational culture than recruiting and selecting the right types of employees. The type of employees hired by an organization has the largest effect on its culture – especially when a company is in high growth mode and is rapidly adding new employees.
What factors have you found to affect your organizational culture? Contact the recruiting professionals at TruPath and we’ll add your tips to the list.
TruPath is an executive search firm that finds mid to senior level executives in mission critical roles at your organization. Furthermore, we help your leaders find team members to propel your business forward. Contact us if you’re looking for new talent to join your team.