Building powerful corporate culture

Enter into any management seminar or leadership forum and invariably the term organisational culture likely pops up. Organisational culture stands as an often amorphous misunderstood buzzword upon which to heap blame or praise for organisational achievements. However, not many management resources actually detail scientific components of organisational culture upon which to build a highly functional organisation.

Organisational culture broadly means a plethora of paradigms, assumptions, and norms expected within an entity. Organisational culture proves integral to corporate success since it influences the feelings, thoughts, interactions, and performance in organisations. Social scientists link a healthy organisational culture to such important corporate outcomes as better individual job performance by employees, stronger entity profits, higher employee job satisfaction, commitment to the organisation, less staff isolation and withdrawal, and lower staff turnover.

Therefore, Business Talk undertakes a weeks-long series to delve into building and maintaining powerful cultures within Kenya’s companies. Starting off, Turkish researcher Seçil Tastan highlights four critical aspects of organisational culture: training and development, teamwork, rewards and recognition, and communication.

Researchers Zahariah Zain, Razanita Ishak, and Erlane Ghani in Malaysia developed a tool for employees to judge the strength of their organisation’s culture. So now, please take a few moments and rate the following aspects of the four organisational culture constructs in your institution. Ascertain whether you 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (neither agree nor disagree), 4 (agree), or 5 (strongly agree) that a respective area represents a strong area within your firm.

Please rate the first section that covers training and development with six aspects as follows: employees are encouraged to pursue or accept education and training within the entity. Resource for employee education and training is available within the firm. Employee training incorporates quality management tools. Employee opportunities for training allow adequate time spent in training sessions.

Management shows a real concern for staff career development. Specific skills that employees need to do their jobs well are included in training. Now, add your six ratings and add them together to make a training and development score and then divide by six.

Job participation

Secondly, let us delve into teamwork by answering the following eight areas: work within your department is appointed around groups. Cliques in the company look after everyone, not just themselves. Job participation is strong.

Interpersonal co-operation is strong. Employees are comfortable to work in teams rather than just individually. Decisions in the office are based on consensus. Cooperation exists within departments. Employees freely share ideas at work. Then add your ratings of these eight items and divide by eight.

In the third section, please answer the following that includes reward and recognition with eight aspects: rewards and recognition received in the firm are based on employee work quality. The compensation system fosters both team and individual contribution. The organisation is equitable in how it hires, compensates, promotes, and recognises employees.

The entity emphasises performance-related rewards. Work conditions recognise worker efforts to improve quality. Staff suggestions are appropriately rewarded and recognised. Innovative employees receive rewards and recognition. Rewards and recognition are clearly communicated to staff. Next, add your eight ratings and add them together to make a reward and recognition score and then divide by eight.

Fourth and final, please answer communication that covers the following eight items: the organisation values open communication. Communication sharing readily happens in the company. Freedom of speech is respected.

Communication strategy

An internal communication strategy is readily available within the firm. The company actively utilises communication as a tool to shape corporate culture. The organisation communicates effectively.
Management consistently provides feedback to and among teams. The entity strives to continuously improve communication between leaders and workers. Please now add your eight ratings, combine them, and then divide by eight.

You should now have four different averaged category ratings falling between one and five for training and development, teamwork, rewards and recognition, and communication. Which of the four categories was strongest at your place of work? Which proved the weakest in this rating? If you scored your entity above an average of four in any of the four categories, then you work for a firm with a strong valuable organisational culture.

On the other hand, if you scored an average below three in any of the four categories, then you subside in a job with an unhelpful organisational culture permeating your work enjoyment and success.
Concerned about your own performance as a result of organisational culture? Among the above four categories, communication proves the most effective organisational culture tool that leads to better job performance. Rewards and recognition hold the least impact.

Scott may be reached on [email protected] or on Twitter: @ScottProfessor.