By Phelekeza Expert
Organisational culture encompasses the values and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of a business. September being Heritage Month, I want to highlight the importance of organisational culture and how it integrates with individual culture.
What is organisational culture?
Organisational culture is the combination of values, expectations, and practices that lead and inform the work of all team members. Think of it as a group of attributes that make your company what it is. The dictionary defines culture as: "the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society."
Corporate culture is the core of every business operation. Whether it is recruitment or performance management, the values and cultures of the organisation should be rooted in those processes. It shouldn't just be values written on a wall. It shouldn't be this far-away fluffy concept. It should be something that, especially the leaders in an organisation, live and breathe.
Recruiting for cultural fit
It is one thing to recruit for skill, and that we can assess for. However, in terms of culture and cultural fit you need to attract the right person by placing the right advertisements and asking the right questions during the interview to make sure that the candidate's values are in line with your organisational values. You can only determine that, and the candidate can only ascertain that, if the company is sure of its values.
Company culture and COVID-19
We have all felt the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on teamwork. First of all, I sense that leaders feel they are losing control of their company culture because teams are not interacting face-to-face. That is why it is important to remind teams about it by integrating business culture into every process and in the execution of tasks and projects.
Managing remote teams is easier when you understand each member's contribution to the organisation's culture. I once saw a quote that read: "We can only manage what we know." Company culture should be as diverse as possible. When leaders and managers know what individual team members contribute in terms of their skills and attributes, it is easier to bring out the best in them.
It is furthermore important to understand that each employee will express the business' values and culture through individualistic behaviour. Imagine that your company's core value is 'serving'. Someone may serve by making coffee. Someone else could serve by helping others, and another employee may serve by making jokes and lift the atmosphere. So, knowing the individual will enable the manager to understand how the individual lives the company culture.
The new normal and leadership mindsets
Many companies still have very traditional cultures in terms of employees who are only seen as working when they are at the office in front of their computers. With the new normal I think the biggest change management that needs to happen within organisations is the change in leaders' mindsets. Leaders and managers must move away from the idea that, if you empower someone, you may lose control. The fear of losing control hinders managers to live the company values and in turn results in distrust of employees' abilities to live the business values.
Only after a company's leadership team changed their mindsets, is it time to change the business processes and support systems to make sure that performance remains on track, that teams have regular virtual catch-up sessions, and that employees come into the office from time-to-time to create team cohesion. Even when teams can do everything remotely, there is something special that happens when people get together in the same room. That is why it is important to ensure that the company's culture is entrenched in the training of staff in terms of the new normal and way of doing things at your organisation.
The benefits of having a solid company culture
Culture shapes the way that people not only interact with each other, but it also shapes individual work ethic and how effectively we work. It influences employee performance, teamwork, and the way we respect and talk to each other. That is why it is important that the leaders who created the culture, also live the culture to enable it to trickle down into the rest of the organisation. I read somewhere that 'you can teach what you know but you reproduce who you are'.
How can we help you?
At Phelekeza we can help your company with all the steps of creating and establishing a solid organisational culture. Our experts can guide your leadership team in establishing the core values of your business and setting up the subsequent processes. We can help with job advertisements, interview questions, a variety of assessments, as well as team fit and how each individual contributes to the team. Our services include personality assessments, team cohesion, understanding each other, understanding behaviours, team workshops, and leadership training. For more information call our office in Pretoria at 012-271-0051 or send us an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
