The A-Z Guide to Corporate Culture for Leaders

The phrase corporate culture has become a trend in the business world. Company culture is an essential factor for hiring and retaining top talent in your industry.

According to a study, organizations with a strong corporate experience are four times likely to increase revenue than those without. However, corporate culture offers more than revenue benefits. It is the core culture of a set of shared visions, behavior, and values that contribute to your workplace environment.

Conducive and enjoyable workplace culture will attract the right talent and inspire your workers to perform their best. Read on below to get ideas on creating a conducive workplace culture or improving the already-existing one.  

What Is Company Culture?

Company culture is the primary set of behaviors, values, and beliefs that create an organization’s working environment. It is the vibe of a company that all employees feed off. If your corporate culture is positive, the employees will be more productive, engaged, and more likely to stay with your company.

A positive working environment also helps you attract top talent. On the other hand, a negative and toxic working environment will repulse employees, and your retention rate will be lower. Employees want to feel heard, appreciated, and part of your company.

Different Corporate Culture Styles

Company culture and business strategy are the primary factors that business leaders need to maintain effectiveness and viability at the workplace. The strategy will help you get a formal logic and orient your employees around your company’s goals. Corporate culture expresses these goals through group norms and shared assumptions.

Below are the different cultural styles in companies today:

People Interaction

A company that fosters healthy people interactions and coordination will fall on a highly interdependent and independent spectrum. A culture that leans towards people interaction offers businesses great autonomy and value. It also fosters healthy competition and individual initiative to take action.

It will be easier for you to manage groups and coordinate people relationships. Employees working in such an environment often collaborate and work together to bring success to themselves and the business.

Employees’ Response to Change

Some companies emphasize adaptability, flexibility, and receptivity to change. However, other organizations prefer a culture that prioritizes stability, predictability, and consistency.

The company that prefers stability enforces rule-following and reinforced hierarchy to strive for efficiency. These companies are often more focused on the status quo Their culture may be seniority-based staffing.

However, organizations that prefer flexibility prioritize diversity, openness, long-term orientation, and innovation. Below are the eight styles that apply to both these types of companies:

• Caring

The leaders focus on mutual trust and relationships. The work environment is welcoming, warm, and collaborative. This fosters a culture that encourages employees to support and help each other to grow.

The leaders emphasize teamwork, positive relationships, and sincerity. Thus, the employees are all united by loyalty.

• Order

This is an environment focused on structure, shared norms, and respect. Workplaces are methodical environments. Everyone wants to play by the rules and look for ways to fit in.

An environment that focuses on order unites employees by the corporation. That’s because the leaders focus on time-honored customs and shared procedures.

• Authority

This environment is defined by boldness, decisiveness, and strength. A workplace is a competitive place. Everyone is competing and striving to gain a personal advantage. An authoritative environment unites employees by strong control while the leaders focus on dominance and building confidence.

• Results

Wins and achievements characterize this. The environment is merit-based and outcome-oriented. Here, every employee will strive to perform their best.

The leaders in such an environment emphasize goal accomplishments. The employees, on the other hand, are united by their drive for success and capability.

• Safety

This is an environment characterized by caution, preparedness, and lots of planning. Work environments are places where people carefully think through things and are risk-conscious. A workplace is predictable, and it’s easy for employees to anticipate changes.

Business leaders focus on planning and being realistic. This ensures that employees are united by a feeling of security and their desire for protection.

• Enjoyment

Employees express enjoyment through excitement and fun. The work environment where enjoyment is a primary focus is lighthearted, and the employees do what makes them happy. They are united by stimulation and playfulness, while leaders focus on a sense of humor and spontaneity.

• A Learning Environment

This is characterized by expansiveness, creativity, and exploration. This is an environment where people are open-minded, inventive, and explore alternative ideas. Employees are curious, and the leaders emphasize adventure, knowledge, and innovation.

• Purpose

This is an environment that’s exemplified by altruism and idealism. The employees are compassionate, tolerant and will always try to do good things for the company’s long-term future and the world. They’re united by their focus on global communities and environmental sustainability.

Tips to Improve Your Corporate Culture

Changing corporate culture can be quite stressful. However, instilling corporate culture is an integral part of building and running a successful business. Most people think that building a company culture involves buying snacks and budgeting for nap pods.

However, you don’t have to spend any money to create an inclusive, dynamic and productive corporate environment. Below are tips to help you build the right culture for your company:

Listen to Employee Feedback

Every employee wants to feel like the people in authority listen to their concerns. If your company doesn’t have good internal communication, your employees will feel like they can’t give feedback about their feelings.

Ensure you find ways to improve your company’s internal communication. This will create a better experience for your employees. Create a safe space for employees to give and receive feedback.

After getting feedback on what is happening at the workplace, ensure you take the necessary steps to implement change. Let your employees see the efforts you’re making to create a conducive work environment for them.

Embrace Inclusion and Diversity

Diversity and inclusion should be your top corporate culture goals. A company that promotes diversity and inclusion is more likely to succeed. Your company culture and atmosphere should be accepting of your employee’s diverse backgrounds and who they are.

Below are some tips on how to embrace diversity and inclusion:

• Avoid discrimination of any kind
• Don’t make assumptions or stereotype anyone
• Educate your employees and business leaders on how to interact with every employee

When your employees feel included and accepted, they will be more productive. No one wants to work in an office that promotes discrimination or racism.

Include Training and Professional Development

Investing time and money in your workers is the best way of showing that you care. It’s also a great way to add value to your company. Encourage the employees and business leaders to attend additional training, professional development conferences, or further their education.

You can use a workforce application to educate your team by offering additional training videos. Your employees can watch the videos or join the learning at their convenience.

Foster Employee Recognition and Reward

Everyone wants to feel recognized and appreciated for going above and beyond; so do your employees. Ensure you appreciate employees that take the initiative. This is a key part of any successful company culture.

To appreciate your employees, you can use an employee rewards platform software. This is the simplest way to keep your employees engaged and recognized.  

Apart from recognition and rewards, employees also want to know that your company has career advancement opportunities. Share with them information about any open positions to see if they are suitable to apply.

Have a Clear and Well-Defined Purpose

Do you know what your company’s purpose is? Can your employees clearly define and communicate it? Your company’s purpose gives your workers drive and something to focus on.

They will set achievable professional goals that will be in line with your company’s bottom line. A well-defined company purpose will also help boost your company’s stakeholders’ confidence.

Practice What You Preach

A great corporate culture makes room for the employee to manage communication. However, the culture itself must originate from the top. As a leader, you must be proactive and practice the culture you want to enforce.  

It’s not enough to write your values on your company website. You must embody the values and behaviors you want to reflect on your employees.

Instilling corporate culture in business ethics, policies, and other functions is essential for creating a dynamic and all-inclusive company culture. If you stress the importance of practicing company values and business ethics without practicing yourself, your employees will not have an example to follow.

Create Your Dream Corporate Culture Today

Are you ready to build or improve your corporate culture? The information above will help you understand company culture and build a unique and targeted culture for your employees. The culture will be more based on your workers’ long-term happiness and fulfillment instead of free snacks.

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