There is a lot of discussion about company culture these days. Often the articles focus on the success of giant multinational corporations and their seeming success in having great work place cultures. On occasion there is focus on these same gigantic companies and their failures in having a functioning and articulated company culture.
Whether praising or decrying a company culture the proposed solutions focus on adapting what worked someplace else to your own workplace. On the surface that may seem like a reasonable idea. It is not.
Company culture is dependent on the people who are part of the workplace. It may start out as an informal set of guidelines that employees at all levels align with it. Or it may be a more formalized approach setting out the parameters for the tolerance of risk and out of the box thinking.
Your company may have an atmosphere of casual dress, a games room, onsite child care, or well stocked kitchens accessible to all employees at no cost. These are not cultural features.
Culture is deeper – it is what has formed over time and is based on surviving downturns, upturns and everything in between. Shared assumptions leading to shared values, and historic data along with people who are rooted in the experience of sharing that data, are company culture foundations.
What is your experience and perception of a finely tuned company culture that employees chose to be a part of?
Marie-Helene & Effective Placement & Faery Godmothers
