Henry Mintzberg said culture is the soul of the organization, and he couldn't be more correct.
Organization culture can transform an ordinary workplace into an extraordinary place to work. A healthy organizational culture facilitates bonding, team unison, and loyalty among employees. It also gives an organization its unique "personality" and can create a competitive edge, whether locally or globally.
Organization Culture Defined
A company's culture is central to its ideologies, values, principles, and beliefs. It is a key factor in not only attracting top tier job candidates, but also in retaining them once they have decided to join.
It's been said countless times that organization culture is how people behave or act when no one else is looking. It is often the "secret sauce" that distinguish one company from another, and makes one shine while the other is dull.
Measuring Organizational Culture
So, how do company leaders learn about their organization's culture, and perhaps more importantly, how do they improve it so it is healthy, thriving, and addicting? One of the best ways to measure the culture of an entity is through a culture survey.
Implementing a culture survey is an straightforward task with today's advanced online survey software. With built-in advanced logic, analytics, and reporting features, companies can understand the pulse of its organization's culture in no time through survey tools such as this.
Where an organizational culture survey really shines, though, is when there is a disparity between what management desires the organization's culture to be and what the culture running through the organization actually is. When the actual culture and desired culture is out of sync, a culture survey can identify the gaps in order for management to close them to create a culture aligned with its business strategy.
Another great time to implement a culture survey by using online survey software is when a change is either contemplated or has already occurred. For example, if a merger has taken place, a culture survey can show if there was an impact to the culture, whether positive or negative. Or, if there has been a change in leadership, particularly at high levels in the organization, culture survey tools can measure how the new leader's beliefs, values, and principles have trickled down throughout the organizational levels.
Having a healthy culture at the workplace provides numerous benefits to the employees who work there and to the organizational as a whole. It promotes teamwork, better communication, and a sense of direction for making decisions. When employees view themselves as an integral part of the company's culture, they are more loyal to its mission and are more intent on contributing to the organization's success.
Keep in mind, creating an organizational culture, for a start-up for instance, is the relatively easy part. Maintaining a healthy culture, while the company grows and experiences roadblocks and failures, along with triumphs and successes is the challenging part. But that is exactly where a culture survey shines.
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