Excellent business behaviour is key to the collective success of an organisation. Let’s discuss organisational culture; what it is about, its importance to achieving and maintaining success, and how to achieve a well-cultured corporation.
Organisational culture is simply the proper way to behave within an organisation. It is the collection, principles, values, and practices that guide the actions of all team members. It is also the behavioural trademark of any company. It’s important, therefore, to nurture organisational culture.
Four types of organisational culture
There are four different types of organisational cultures. Let’s look at these briefly below:
Clan culture
This is a team of people with the sense of all members seen as one big happy family. It is rooted solely in collaboration among members who share the values, goals and principles. This brings a high-rated work enabling environment where every staff is valued, and communication is a top priority.
As a result, it opens windows for happy employees who bring positive energy to both customers and serve as a testament to their highly flexible nature. It is present mainly in small businesses or startups.
Motto
We’re All in This Together
Focus
Teamwork and Mentorship
Bureaucratic culture
Rooted solidly in ‘innovation,’ this team of members are risk-takers. The leaders take roles as innovators or entrepreneurs, and employees are encouraged to “think outside the box” or “break the ice”. They are searching for their next breakthrough and how to attain it first, especially in this competitive, fast-growing technological world.
They are ready to take the ‘bull by the horn’ because their success is tied externally to the market growth. This type of culture is in companies like Google, Microsoft, etc.
Motto
Risk it to Make it.
Focus
Innovation and Risk-taking
Market culture
It thrives on competition to achieve concrete results. These are companies that focus more on external successes than internal satisfaction. There are certain degrees of separation between the levels of power.
They are very concerned about reaching targets and getting results. Profitability in this culture is a priority. It is found within already made and big industries.
Motto
In it to Win it.
Focus
Growth and Competition.
Hierarchy culture
This is a more traditional way of running a business. It is a strictly formal environment built on structure, control and absolute power in authorities.
They are more concerned with the internal smooth running of a company with transparent issuance of ‘Command and Obey’ and multiple levels of management that separate leaders from other employees. They have a rigid way of doing things to ensure stability and often avoid risks.
Focus
Structure and Stability
Motto
Get it done right.
Importance of Organisational Culture
There are various ways in which having a pattern an organisation is built on benefits the company’s overall work rate and image. Let’s look at some of those ways.
Better employee engagement
When an organisation’s culture aligns with employees’ interests, they are likely to feel valued and, in turn, proceed to bring their bests to the table. In addition, when there is effective communication between team members, there is always health room for development.
Increase in productivity
Great culture brings excellent cooperation among the members. Therefore, all team members will make efforts to ensure the growth of the respective companies. This overall boosts productivity rate in line with the set goals of the respective industries.
Strong brand identity
The work culture is the significant trait on which a company is built and one of the company’s first impressions. A positive work attitude and workforce would showcase a company’s strong reputation, leading to good performance and transcending good company-customer relationships.
Improves employee retention rate
With a sound and work-enabling environment of an industry, long-lasting employee tenures are assured. This, in turn, would bring out the best in staff, enable them time to grow in the business, and thus reaping fruits of the productivity long term for the company as a whole.
Easier onboarding for fresh recruits
With an already established identity of respective companies and ethics on how to run them, it is easier to attract a workforce that shares the same beliefs and working principles. This goes further to make sure that there’s a continuous chain of employees that will uphold the working traditions for each industry.
For more information visit 57 Great Ways to Encourage Better Employee Health.
Image: Pexels
How to engage your employees
Let’s look at the best ways to imbibe healthy work cultures in employees or team members below:
Communicate well
Knowing how to engage with employees is a significant key to improve work relationships. Miscommunication often keeps people unsure of how good or bad they’re doing and puts them on a path seeking greener pastures.
Create an environment safe for sharing ideas and making corrections precise in passing information and erasing confusion. This and more would help to put together a strong production team.
Listen to their concerns and ideas
For those in established leadership positions, find the best platform for sharing opinions or ideas (publicly or anonymously) and see to implementation. Show the team that their views are essential to the organisation and implement the best ideas. This will motivate them to put out their best and, in turn, feel valued.
Stick to the organisation’s core values
This is done by upholding the company’s brand identity and instilling it in the organisation’s workforce. This puts the team on a pedestal running on principles that work for the company and increase overall performance and success.
Recognise employee achievements
Recognising efforts that push the company forward publicly is also very important. It instils seal and determination in others to think of ideas with the company’s advancement in mind. In addition, organising events that recognise efforts will make the team eager to bring on their A-game.
Invest in training and developments
For traditional companies, organising orientations, especially for recruits, would expose them early enough to the know-how of what is expected of them. This exposes them to the culture and makes sure they are adequately equipped to grow with the company.
Personalise employee experience
This can be achieved by listening to their ideas, awarding the most beneficial contributions to the corporation, and effective communication. In addition, platforms like these help the staff feel involved and valued, which motivates them to contribute to the effective running of the company.
Be consistent
Consistency in leadership positions will build faith and confidence in your subordinates and give a sense of stability in authority. Treating everyone as one and accordingly while adhering to principles will establish a good relationship in employee relationships and overall cooperation.
For more information visit Fantastic Ideas to Encourage Team Spirit.
Three signs of a solid organisational culture
There are various features of firms with strong work cultures. Some of the primary indicators are;
Employees can relate their job to your company’s mission
When a firm has succeeded in imbibing the principles in their team, there is a sense of patriotism ignited in them to achieve the set goals of the corporation.
With clarity of the company’s values, team members can easily align the firm’s motives with their personal convictions. Thus, strengthening the workforce and putting an organisation on a pedestal for success.
Employees are engaged and eager to help
A strong culture reveals employees who are actively and passively working to see the success of an organisation. Thus, giving room for easy conflict resolutions, high levels of trust, low selfish interests, and minimal office politics.
Employees work well as culture
This shows that the workforce of an organisation has clarity of the company values in mind. Thus, working individually and collectively on a pedestal to see the company’s growth as a team. This creates an enabling atmosphere to achieve excellence as an organisation.
In Summary
In this article, we have been able to look at the definition of organisational culture, the importance of cultivating it, and the benefits of having a strong work culture in a corporation. We also stated the different types of cultures and their peculiarities and how to nurture organisational culture, and form a healthy work relationship with a team.
In summary, a healthy culture is essential to business growth. Furthermore, finding the best way to run an organisation is key to the longevity of both the company and its workforce. Are you looking for more insight on Organisational culture? This piece is all you need.
About the Author
Keegan Beikoff is the founder and Managing Director of KBIT Consultants. Keegan Beikoff works with SME and Enterprise Companies in Australia with a focus on Private Cloud Server Hosting, Migrations and Management.
