Back in our primary school days, we learned culture was dynamic, so if your organizational culture has become toxic, consider revising. Your work environment must be welcoming, your employees must wake up every day feeling energetic coming to the office.

Productivity is key, embrace change when the need be.

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UNDERSTANDING THE HULLABALOO OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

No kidding. Think of organizational Culture as the DNA of your business. Every organization has its unique way of doing things. How employees behave, the customer service approach, and what the organization holds in high esteem; the values, beliefs, and behaviors are different with every business. Organizational culture is mainly about the existing rules that govern a company.

We can look at culture as “the way things are done at a particular setting” or let me refer to the famous quote “if you go to Rome, you do what the Romans do”. There are sixteen Regions in Ghana, home to more than a hundred tribes, yet every tribe has its specific culture and belief and is noted for either their special food, cloth, music, dance, or language.

Peter Drucker puts it as “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Meaning, no matter how good your strategy is, if your employees do not immerse themselves in the organizational culture, your business may fail.

Google is one of THE BIG FIVE TECH companies in the world. It was founded in 1998 and currently has 139,995 employees as of 2021. Google is said to be one of the best employers with excellent organizational culture. What are they doing differently?

Google has a flexible work culture that allows employees to work how they like. Imagine going to your office and there are PS 5 consoles, your favorite video games, and nap pods, yet everyone is very productive. You can hold on to work for a moment, play some games and get back. That is Google’s work environment. However, creativity and productivity is their highest hallmark. They have a flexible work atmosphere, employees are allowed to work three days from the office, there is free food, a gym, team members are allowed to bring along their pet to work. What baffles my mind is, they are rewarded for their failures when shooting for the moon, they believe failure is a learning curve. Google puts the happiness of its employees first, builds trust, and creates a space where they learn from each other. Netflix, Nike, Facebook, SouthWest, and others equally have enviable cultures.

What can be derived from the Goggle story?

I am not implying that using Google’s approach is the only means to achieve organizational success. No! Our elders say “He who does not know one thing knows another”. No one knows everything and every one of us knows something that works best.

Your culture is made for your employees therefore whatever you install, must be to the benefit of both the workers and the organization. When the culture of a place becomes inconvenient, people tend to poorly perform. You wouldn’t want this to happen to your employees and in return hurt your business. Having a strong culture and strategy determines how successful your business will be, therefore your beliefs and values must be widely shared and accepted.

What do you consider when designing your organizational culture?

  • Values. Your organization is made of people with different values and beliefs therefore the values you set must be widely shared and align with the beliefs of the majority of people in the organization. It’s difficult for people to follow rules that misalign with their beliefs. Do your organizational values produce results, respect individuals, encourage teamwork?
  • People-focused. Does your culture put people first? I have observed that most organizations value their customers and product or service more than the employee who is the first customer. If your culture is not employee-centered, your strategies might fail. When making decisions, you must consider the people it’s made for because when they are the focal point, you can provide pragmatic solutions that yield the best result and increase performance.
  • Your decision-making approach. The two main forms of the decision-making process are the top-down and the bottom-up approach. In the first approach management decides without involving workers, In the second approach, the views of the employees are considered when decisions are being made. The second approach communicates a sense of belonging and respect for views.
  • Lead by example. Some bosses do not follow the values they set. One of your core values is respect, yet you speak to your employees anyhow and sometimes insult them because you are the “boss” everyone must run when they see you. According to world statistics, “90% of employees would not consider working with a company with higher pay but bad work culture”.

Back in our primary school days, we learned culture was dynamic, so if your organizational culture has become toxic, consider revising. Your work environment must be welcoming, your employees must wake up every day feeling energetic coming to the office.

Productivity is key, embrace change when the need be.