Article by: Sara Pantaleo
Culture strategy offers a formal logic for the company’s goals and focuses people around them.
The company’s goals are the priority. Strategy guides activity towards these objectives, while culture expresses them through values, principles and beliefs that guide how people act and interact.
The strategy offers a formal logic for understanding what should be done; it orientates employees around its strategic points of view. Culture gives meaning to everything at your organisation by expressing them through shared group standards of how to behave and perform.
Creating a positive work environment is crucial for retaining employees. A culture strategy can help you create the employee experience your company craves by aligning people with priorities, strategy, vision and purpose, so they feel valued every day of their career! And importantly also, have everyone aligned on the company strategy.
Defining your Culture
Company culture is a delicate balance between control and freedom. Too much of one or the other can have negative consequences for your company, but when you find that happy medium, it’s incredible what kind of success and culture you can enjoy. If we define our company culture, we can avoid letting confusion and frustration run rampant in our organisation. Company culture is reflected in everything from the purpose and mission statement to the company vision. It needs to stay consistent in order for employees and customers alike to understand what they can expect when working with you or buying your products/services.
If you don’t take the time to think about how you want the organisation culture to unfold, one will spring up without your input, and it might not be good! A negative culture will likely lead to poor employee retention, customer dissatisfaction, poor quality control and poor morale, amongst other things.
Some of the things you can do to define your culture are:
- Discuss culture with your team. Learn how your team currently sees the culture and how they would like to see it improve.
- Clarity. Ensure that your strategy, values and vision all align with your culture so there is zero confusion about the standards you operate within and why they are essential.
- Ensure everyone is aligned with the Company values. The values should act as the foundation of your culture. Ensure these are front and centre, use them as a hiring basis and also when it comes to performance reviews.
Developing a People Culture Framework
Elements of your people culture framework should already be part of your strategy; if they are not, you need to start there.
Your framework for culture should include the following:
- Your purpose. Why do you exist?
- Your values. How we work together as a team.
- Your vision.
- Your mission.
To learn more about developing each part of this framework view, our articles focused on each point.