The Ways You Operate: Organisational Culture
The culture of an organization is often defined as: “the way we do things round here”. If you, as manager or leader, want to ensure that the ways you operate reflect what you want customers to experience, then you should manage the following seven features of your business culture.
1. Rites and Rituals
Rites, ceremonies and rituals are important events in the life of an organisation. They re-state in subtle ways the things that matter and endure, even though their immediate commercial or practical benefits may be limited. Some of the main rituals include the annual pay round (subtly reminding people of the powers of management); the annual appraisal (subtly reminding employees of the need to perform); and the annual conference (subtly reminding employees of the importance of working together).
2. Symbols and Slogans
Symbols and slogans are the visual signs of an organisation's culture. They have a huge impact on how an organisation is seen and sees itself.
When British Telecom changed its name to BT, phased out their old red phone booths and spent £2 million on a new logo, people condemned it as a waste of money. What these symbols and slogans did, however, was to update BT's culture into that of a modern technology-aware organisation.
Symbols include letterheads and uniforms; colours and flags; advertising or internal slogans, such as IBM's "I think, therefore IBM" and Main Hotel’s “Come in as Guests, leave as Family”; awareness campaigns; gimmicks such as Proctor and Gamble's one-page memorandum campaign.
3. What We See
What people see every day in their workplace, and what visitors see when they visit, reveal and reflect the ways you operate. In Japanese offices, for example, private rooms are a rarity; people of whatever rank work close together. In Western companies, offices are laid out according to rank and status with bigger and better equipment and furniture according to level and responsibility.
The power of cultural values can be simply expressed in office furniture. IBM, for example, claim that every one of its offices has a flipchart, thus making the subtle point that the office is a meeting place, a place for discussion and a place for creative ideas.
4. Climate and Atmosphere
The climate and atmosphere of an organisation can be felt as tangibly as the climate of the day's weather. Writer Vincent Nolan says he can sense the climate of an organisation the moment he walks in the front door. For example, in a customer-oriented culture, the people you meet smile at you naturally and genuinely. There is a "can-do" not "can't-do" feel about the place. And everyone is energetic and lively. Compare this with the culture of the organisation of the badly-typed invoice, the staff smoking at the doorway and the late-answered phone.
5. Language and Jargon
Cultural values are reinforced by the words people use each day. On trains, people who were once referred to as "passengers" are now called "customers". In DisneyWorld, customers are called "Guests" (with a capital G); the operation is a "show"; staff are "hosts" and everyone is part of the "cast". In fast-food chain McDonald's staff are "crew members". And in the Brazilian engineering company Semco, directors are called "counsellors" and managers "co-ordinators".
6. Role Models
Role models are those people who embody the ways you operate. Role models can come from all sorts of places. They could be the original founding fathers of the organisation, (perhaps emphasising a spirit of risk-taking or thrift). They could be the pioneers who built the organisation in its early days. They could also be present-day heroes, such as the 3M employee whose persistence in re-cycling reject sandpaper resulted in, first, dismissal then re-instatement and, finally, advancement to the top.
7. Stories and Myths
Stories, myths, legends and folklore transmit important values of your culture and the ways you operate. Stories appeal to us because they help get us closer to distant figures and bind us in ways that are special and unique. They define who is “us” and who is “them”.
The best-known organizational stories reinforce the values a leader prizes. In Hewlett-Packard, Bill Hewlett found the door to a supply room locked. He snapped it open with a bolt cutter and left a note saying, “Don’t ever lock this door again”. In another culture, the person locking the supply store would have been commended.
Culture is the one thing people remember about your organization long after they have finished using your product or service. Make it one they’ll never forget.
More Resources on Organisational Culture
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