"Culture is a form of protection that has evolved from situational pressures"
Michael D. Watkins
In 2013 Michael Watkins conducted a survey on LinkedIn to obtain a definition of culture, whilst it is not the most scientific of approaches, there are interesting ideas that have emerged from his survey. Regular readers will be aware that the culture of your organisation will impact many domains such as ethics, profit, employee engagement, customer attraction and retention to name a few.
“Culture is how organizations ‘do things’.”
Robbie Katanga
Next week marks the middle of the calendar year and the end of the Australian financial year. It is therefore an apt time to sit with a warm pot of tea and ponder the past, present and future culture of your organisation.
Photo by Mehrshad Rajabi on Unsplash
To make the experience less vague and overwhelming, think about how you want your company to be rated in 6 months time from the perspective of your:
Customers: past, present and future
Employees
Stakeholders
Board
Other relevant parties
Repeat the process with your team and colleagues. Please be mindful to balance the aspirational and realistic perspectives. If you need a reminder to 'be careful what you wish for' click here to watch 9 minute The Sorcerer`s Apprentice scene from Disney's Fantasia. I have also added the music to my blog playlist.
References: Harvard Business Review. (2014). What Is Organizational Culture? And Why Should We Care? [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2013/05/what-is-organizational-culture.
Vandenberghe, C. (1999). Organizational culture, person-culture fit, and turnover: a replication in the health care industry. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20(2), pp.175–184. A quantitative study of the relationship between organizational culture and turnover intent among minorities in a federal agency by Racquel S. Nails. A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Capella University March 2015