Creating the Right Organizational Culture

One key for unlocking human potential is to define the purpose of your organization and connect the people to this purpose. Organizational culture encompasses everything from a company’s values and beliefs, leadership styles and operational policies and how these elements work in concert to impact and empower employees. A high-performance culture enables an organization to achieve excellent results and a high level of growth. Expressing company culture through effective people processes and creating a work environment that is conducive to growth will ensure that departments throughout the organization consistently achieve and even exceed their targets. Employees that are aligned to company values can promote an enthusiastic work culture.

Cultivating Trust

Building a culture of trust can enhance cooperative behaviour amongst colleagues and reduce social friction. High-trust teams become high-performance teams if they feel secure in their organization and company processes are transparent and ethical. Organizational trust is a social lubricant that can boost employee satisfaction and productivity. Strive to build a culture of trust where people can feel at ease coming to work. Foster a sense of community and a sense of belonging.

Boosting Engagement

Employee engagement is boosted when people feel a sense of purpose in their tasks and understand the integral roles they play in the overall success of the business. Inculcating a mindset that is focused on performance and growth is achieved when employees feel that they are valued and that they are actively engaged in building something they believe in. Involve your employees in developing the organization’s purpose through company culture surveys, town-hall meetings, and through constant and consistent communication practices and encourage continuous dialogue.

Define Expectations

Organizational goals must be linked to individual goals so that they are aligned. Clearly defined expectations at the individual, team, departmental and company level will ensure the company moves in the right direction and that employees have clarity. Linking goals with the ‘big picture’ will also motivate employees and help them understand the broader purpose of the tasks they are working on.

Once employees understand what is expected of them, having an established system to measure performance is critical. Accountability is important. Performance measurement systems and regular meetings between supervisors and their direct deports will help drive performance. A feedback culture will help employees to grow and develop. The system should seek to build the confidence and capability of employees rather than just criticize them for perceived inadequacies.

Appreciate Employees

Recognize and reward good performance. When employees feel their output is valued and recognized, it encourages them to deliver more value. Appreciation and gratitude are underrated in most companies. High-performance teams look forward to delivering outstanding results because they know they are valued.

Embrace Technology

Data is a business asset that cuts across organizational boundaries and flows through an organization. Harnessing the power of data can help a company improve its processes and minimize inefficiencies, gain insights into market trends, track the progress of goals and objectives and improve resource allocation and deployment. Embracing technology and having the right systems in place will facilitate the process of collecting and managing data.

A culture of mutual respect, collaboration, and support will help your organization achieve its goals and attract talent that will further enhance your success. Creating a winning culture is worth the effort. Some of the most successful companies that have weathered many storms and continue to succeed and break new ground, have established cultures that work for them.

Article by Shailja Sharma, Faculty Member and Leadership and Career Coach