A culture that is carefully built and nurtured in an organization is key to its long term success. While every organization has its own culture and there is no right or wrong answer to which culture should be fostered, a culture that is open and dynamic goes a long way in connecting with employees and fostering a rapport with them.
The product that the organization works on and the service it provides take a backseat when an organization’s culture is under consideration, as a strong culture can do wonders in terms of reviving a sick unit, a strategy that is going south, or a weak positioning against the competition. A positive culture can bring in clear thinking, a long term view, innovation, and an empathy for each other—all of which can push the organization forward. An open culture is one that even large organizations strive to achieve in order to grow. Google touts an open culture and attributes the company's success to its culture.
Such strong culture positions have done wonders in attracting new talent, building the core DNA of an organization, and empowering the leadership team to focus on the right problems to solve. In a recent example, the happily employed president of Concur decided to work at another organization because of a set of 25 emails written by its employees about the culture at the organization.
Work culture is often confused with a strong work-life balance, but this may not always be true. For example, the work-life balance quotient in an organization may not be strong. However, the work culture may be very positive and constructive. Amazon is a good example here. A previous executive at Amazon, who now heads Tableau, brings in core Amazon’s cultural elements to his new organization and calls it Amazonization. Amazonization is centered around customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking.
Organizational culture is guided by core principles and requires taking the existing conditions, making changes to align actions with objectives, and creating positive results. It a set of shared beliefs and values that everyone buys into and works on. A workplace culture is said to make or break businesses, and a strong one is said to nurture happy employees, putting an organization on the path to success.
