Understanding Corporate Culture

Culture is popularly known as the way of life or doing things for particular regions. Corporate culture then means the way a corporate entity acts, its values and how interactions are being made within and outside of the organization. Most times. Corporate culture evolves and it is not clearly spelt out. It could even be outsiders who point out that there are certain behavioral traits akin to a particular entity. A corporate culture is showcased in the company’s mode of communication, social patterns, how they address customers/clients, dress code, office set up, and all other parts of their operations.

Corporate culture awareness began in the 1960s, but widely known in 1990s. It was used commonly by managers, sociologists and other professionals to describe the character of a company.

With time, corporate culture began influenced by national cultures, trends in economy, company size and type of products. Now, corporate culture has become quite a deliberate effort for companies to infuse in their operations. Members of staff are now taken through different trainings and processes in a bid for them to get acquainted with the culture of places they work.

Corporate culture is the personality of an organization and guides how the employees act, feel and think. It has a huge impact on the turnover of a company and its employees.

Features of a corporate culture

Vision: the culture of an organization should reflect their vision and what they desire to achieve. The employees should embody the vision of the organization.

Values: the values of an organization are traits and beliefs they prioritize. This can only be seen by each employee having same personal core values as the organization shares.

Operations: how an organization carries out its operation is distinct to them and this is what the culture should entail. Operations includes the practices, methods and mechanisms, processes etc.

Managing Corporate Culture

Corporate culture is conceived by the founders or managers of the organization but managed by the Human Resource department. The HR is crucial because they have the most interactions with the people of the company and greater liberty to enforce the culture.

With effective management of culture, the employees will have a positive perception and grasp of it and will likely commit to it. Much more, they will become advocates of the company’s culture as well.

Examples of good corporate culture includes:

Conflict resolution

Data management

Communication

Performance Rewards

Feedback and reviews

Benefits of a good corporate culture

It helps in branding and identification

It can increase revenue and turn over

It helps to ensure seamless company operations

It improves the quality of employee relationship

It helps to save time.

Finally, it is important that corporate culture evolves as a company expands so it accommodates all the changes that is being made. This will continually set the company apart and ensure corporate culture fulfills its purpose.