Why has company culture always been flagged as important in every industry? This is because company culture is more likely going to affect everything about the company from its performance to how people perceive it in the media.
But why does it matter that a company has a specific culture in another move forward against their competitors in the industry?
While you might not know how important it is, organizational culture can determine the success and overall health of your company, people, employees, and your customers or clients.
So, you must take your time figuring out why your company’s culture is the way it is, and whether it should stay that way or change for the better. In this article, we will be looking at some of the important reasons why having a company culture is important.
Article Contents
Defining Your Company’s Internal & External Identity
Before anything else, you should pick a piece of paper and write out five attributes that best describe your company’s culture so far. What you write down can vary from “lots of meetings” to “team-oriented” or “good work-life balance”.
Now, you need to take your time analysing the importance of those attributes to your company in particular. Are the “lots of meetings” really important to your company in the long run? Analyse and give a valuation to these attributes in terms of customers and employees.
Some business experts from review sites who understood the art of company culture revealed that this culture defines for you and others how your company carry out its business, how it connects with everybody else, including how the team interacts with the world outside, specifically employees, suppliers, partners, customers, media and stakeholders.
From this, you should understand that your company culture is bound to resonate with all aspects of your business as it will determine the way you do business with the outside world. It will be your identity and image in the larger world.
Living Out The Company’s Core Values
Whether you like it or not, your culture will be the reflection of your company’s core values. The methods you employ in handling business, interacting as a team, managing workflow, and treating customers will all contribute to the image of yourself as an organization and you believe a company should be operated. Your culture will be your company’s beliefs in action.
However, if the values you adopted don’t match your culture, then there is a problem. It is just like when you’re not living up to the famous word “A man of his word”. This means will translate your company’s “core value” into meaningless words, which people will now believe.
An organization’s culture will apply your company’s core values in every aspect of its day-to-day operations and structure. This is important if you’re looking to beat your competitors efficiently.
It Can Transform Employees Into Advocates
One of the amazing advantages of having a strong organizational culture is that it can help in transforming your employees into advocates. People will always want more than a steady paycheck and a healthy dose of benefits; they want to know that what they do matters.
When your people start feeling like they matter, they slowly transform into becoming culture advocates – people who will contribute to your company’s culture, promote it and live it. One way to achieve this is by recognizing good work and appreciating it.
Give them credit when it is needed, and create a culture that offers a sense of accomplishment to both its employees and customers. This is one of the best ways to turn your employees into advocates. If your company doesn’t do this, then criticism might be finding its way into your company.
It Can Transform Your Company Into A Team
A testament to this is the advent of a country’s annual festival that brings the residents of a nation together. In the same vein, a successful organizational culture will bring the people at your company together and lets them support each other.
When your company culture is clear, many diverse perspectives will enter with a common purpose. The culture in your company will set expectations for how people will work and behave together, which will determine how well their teamwork will be in the long term.
A successful organizational culture can help break boundaries between isolated teams, improve decision-making, and also increase workflow in general. A toxic organizational culture, on the other hand, will do the opposite of that.
Helps Keep Your Best People
You should already know that employees who feel like they are part of a growing community are more likely to remain in your company than those that feel like a cog in a wheel.
Most job applicants are looking for a place they belong. Most top performers that have been asked what keeps them at a specific company have replied with “the people”.
This is because the company’s culture is more invested in its people. It helps increase engagement, brings about a unique employee experience, and makes them feel connected. Some companies hire cultural fit to make to attract top performers.
Assists With Onboarding
Another reason for the importance of organizational culture is its potential to act as an aligning force at your company. This will be the case with new hires, who have thought hard and researched the type of culture they are walking into.
Your organizational culture will be the guiding force for them, so your culture must be oriented toward onboarding. There have been case studies of people failing at their new jobs due to poor fit, poor delivery or poor adaptation to the changes that come with entering a new company.
If you’ve managed to align the organization around the need for the new hires, your onboarding program should be able to tailor to their needs, assimilate them and accelerate their progress in the organization so they can deliver.
Conclusion
The aforementioned list is just some of the incredible reasons that prove the importance of company culture, and they are a great way to start when you’re thinking about what your organization offers. The situation at your company can be completely different depending on the situation.
Find out the aspects of your company’s culture that are most relevant to your people, and then start thinking about performing a culture audit. This will help you discover what people value the most and support that. Doing this will bring you a step closer to creating a special workplace.
