For some people, corporate culture is about trying to get yogurt provided in the lunch rooms at work. For others, it is one of those things that more rightly belongs with the human resources people to figure out. This week we talk about why individual managers should care about corporate culture in their own departments, and what they might do about improving it.
Monday’s Tip: Look at your mission, vision and values. These are the key indicators of your corporate culture. Why you exist, where you say you’re going as an organization, and how you intend to get there are the foundational building blocks of a corporate culture.
Tuesday’s Tip: Look at your processes, systems, office space, and dress code. If you want a highly entrepreneurial and agile culture, you can’t have systems and processes that weigh people down in bureaucracy and red tape. You can’t have a casual culture, if everyone is required to wear formal business wear daily. Look at how you work in your organization, and determine if it is consistent with the culture you want.
Wednesday’s Tip: Look at what is reinforced: People will do what gets reinforced. If you want people to be focused on service, for example, then you need to pay and reward people who do this well. People will follow the incentives to do what they are rewarded for.
Thursday’s Tip: Look at your people. Who do you hire? Who is promoted? If you want a culture of inclusivity, where people are valued, then you can’t hire or promote dictators. Top-down leadership can work very well in the right culture – just make sure that is what you want.
Friday’s Tip: Look at what is measured. As soon as you keep score, people will change their behaviour to affect that score. If you measure sales, people will focus on that, but be careful, because if you want top quality client service, but only measure sales, then you will get what you measure.