Organizational Culture Core Components

Organizational Development

Defining Your Organization’s Values

I once walked into a new workplace realizing there were a lot of undercurrents, or unspoken norms. How the work environment was described during the recruitment process, was not accurate, but only a description of what the employer aspired to. It would have been more trust-building for the manager to simply state work culture is an ongoing process, with the goals clearly outlined of what that would look like in the future. It takes humility for a supervisor to admit their faults, with efforts to change culture. The team will follow the leader through the spoken and unspoken norms, and those who do not fit, will be unhappy and eventually leave. 

How do we define culture? According to the Shein Model there are 3 components that will lay the groundwork of the importance of values in our organizations.

1. Artifacts

The first level is the characteristics of the organization which can be easily viewed, heard and felt by individuals collectively known as artifacts. The dress code of the employees, office furniture, facilities, behavior of the employees, mission and vision of the organization all come under artifacts and go a long way in deciding the culture of the workplace.

Organization A

• No one in organization A is allowed to dress up casually.

• Employees respect their superiors and avoid unnecessary disputes.

• The individuals are very particular about the deadlines and ensure the tasks are accomplished within the stipulated time frame.

Organization B

• The employees can wear whatever they feel like.

• Individuals in organization B are least bothered about work and spend their maximum time loitering and gossiping around.

• The employees use derogatory remarks at the work place and pull each other into controversies.

In the above case, employees in organization A wear dresses that exude professionalism and strictly follow the policies of the organization. On the other hand, employees in organization B have a laid back attitude and do not take their work seriously. Organization A follows a strict professional culture whereas Organization B follows a weak culture where the employees do not accept the things willingly.

1. Values

The next level according to Schein which constitute the organization culture is the values of the employees. The values of the individuals working in the organization play an important role in deciding the organization culture. The thought process and attitude of employees have deep impact on the culture of any particular organization. What people actually think matters a lot for the organization? The mindset of the individual associated with any particular organization influences the culture of the workplace.

1. Assumed Values

The third level is the assumed values of the employees which can’t be measured but do make a difference to the culture of the organization. There are certain beliefs and facts which stay hidden but do affect the culture of the organization. The inner aspects of human nature come under the third level of organization culture. Organizations where female workers dominate their male counterparts do not believe in late sittings as females are not very comfortable with such kind of culture. Male employees on the other hand would be more aggressive and would not have any problems with late sittings. The organizations follow certain practices which are not discussed often but understood on their own. Such rules form the third level of the organization culture. a.

We will begin with what we cannot see (assumed values), and progress to what is seen, (artifacts). When I walked into the organization, and I picked up on incongruencies with what was described as the culture vs. what the norms actually were, this describes the ‘assumed values’ of the organization. No one would actually say it, but it was inferred. The company actually did not have values defined as a whole. There were definitely values of the employees that were evident, and at times driven by the values of the supervisor. What was seen were the artifacts. I saw the office under construction with a heavily utilized space by the staff, being transformed for a very specified purpose. This in turn created chaos in the environment as the team had to be creative with the remaining office space. The artifact that was shown was that the space for employees to work was sacrificed for a project. There was no ask for employee feedback, as this was told in the team meeting that the decision had already been made. What I understood was the supervisor did not value feedback from the team, and this was inferred by the actions that I could clearly see and experience. I had just walked into an unhealthy culture that played out during my term of employment. 

As a leader who values culture, let’s begin with talking about how culture is communicated. As people we feel, think, & speak thus behaving. We can hear and see the words and actions. What cannot be seen are the emotions. There are social norms in organizations telling us whether it is acceptable to express those emotions, or whether they should be held in and repressed. The best way to change and influence culture is through social norms. There needs to be buy in from the team and teams follow leaders’ behavior and example. When does culture begin to matter in the employment process?

Culture development begins with the recruitment process and continues even when employees leave your organization. 

A great place to begin, is to identify your company values communicating them clearly with prospective recruits. Leaders often fill positions too quickly, focusing on skill set to perform job duties. In addition to skill set, add a core value component to identify whether the new hire will fit organizationally with the culture. Perhaps your organization has values that have not been talked about in a while. This is a great time to explore if they are relatively current in context of your team’s cultural goals. Let’s begin with identifying/clarifying or revising your values. If your organization does not have values defined, no worries, just focus on that piece. 

Exercise:

• What are your organizations values? 

• What are values that you would like to add/delete/revise?

• How can you involve your employees in identifying/revising values? 

When the recruitment process begins with culture, new hires will know that is highly regarded in your organization. Ensuring there is alignment with values, is key to successful onboarding for long-term employment. As we identify these values, let’s consider soft skills. These can be identified as: 

1. Effective communication skills.

2. Teamwork

3. Dependability

4. Adaptability

5. Conflict resolution/Collaboration

6. Flexibility

7. Leadership

8. Problem-solving

9. Creativity 

10. Persuasion 

11. Adaptability  

12. Time Management

In a recent study by Google, project Oxygen found soft skills trumped STEM skills in their employees. They found “among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM expertise comes in dead last. The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas.” b.

How can we go about assessing for values and soft skills during recruitment? 

What we value is evident through our life and career decisions. Ask about the candidate’s choices in life. What is their story? You may ask, how is this pertinent to a job that requires specified skills? A person’s story often tells us what they value in life. People make up organizations. Regardless of technology, we will continue to need people to complete tasks, and soft skills are proven to be highly profitable to a company. By hearing their story and probing into the ‘why’ of life and work decisions, we can learn about an important factor to success in employment: soft skills. 

In the Linked In 2019 Global Talent Trend report, 92% of those surveyed stated soft skills matter as much or more than hard skills. They also reported 89% of, ‘bad hires’ lack soft skills. c. As we probe into the story of the candidate, we will learn how they applied existing soft skills to the situations. This is an investment of time for the hiring manager, and a valuable use of time to hire for soft skills equally to hard skills. Utilize the following worksheet for your hiring process:

• Ask about their Life Story. As they describe life events, probe for culture content of thoughts and emotions. 

Sample questions:

1. What were you thinking when that occurred?

2. I can imagine that was an emotional experience, can you tell me more about that? If the candidate has healthy boundaries, they will express the emotion calmly within context. It will be very telling to you if they candidate becomes nervous, divulging too much information, or talks incessantly. We are assessing for soft skills, and boundaries is an important one that is not normally listed by hiring professionals. 

What do we mean by boundaries? 

1. Communicating how we want, and would not like to be treated

2. Protecting values that are important to us.

3. Respect for self

4. Healthy assertiveness to others

1. Listen for words that are spoken, as well as non-verbal communication that is conveyed. 

• Finally, this is not meant to be a therapy session. It will tell you about the candidate, how well they integrate work & life and express or repress emotions with good boundaries.

For the employees on our teams already, there is hope. It is proven that soft skills can be taught!

According to a study conducted by Namrata Kala who partnered with Shahi Exports, in-factory soft skills training returned 250% on investment within 8 months. These were workers on assembly lines. Much of the gain was due to increase in worker productivity, with short-term gains in improved attendance, increased retention and an ability to perform complex tasks more quickly. The year -long training for employees included soft skills of communication, problem solving & decision making, time & stress management, financial & legal literacy, social entitlements and execution excellence. d.

Here is an important question to now ask: How do soft skills apply to your organization’s values? You may have to rework the values worksheet to implement the soft skills.

 *To note: Hard skills required to execute a task will change with technology, and soft skills will become increasingly necessary to adapt to these changes.*

Living the Values

It’s one thing to say we have values, it’s another thing to live them. At this point you may be asking, and why are values that important? I recently heard David Salyers speak at The Unstoppable Cultures Fellowship about the culture of Chick fila. David had worked alongside Dan Cathy, the founder of Chick fila for decades. He described Chick fila’s organizational values rooting the decision to be closed on Sundays. As he proceeded to inform us of the profit margin of Chick fila exceeding those of McDonalds and other fast food restaurants, he noted if Chick fila opened on Sunday’s they would lose the profit. What was he talking about? Values. Chick fila has connected with communities making a statement that family time is valuable for their employees. When people truly matter, the behaviors of the employers towards employees will exemplify care for work life integration and well-being. This is a success principal for Chick fila according to David Salyers.

A study by Booz Allen Hamilton and the Aspen Institute focused on values-based leadership and public policy studying corporations in 30 countries. They polled 365 executives of companies, 30% of which were CEO’s or board members. 

The fundamental findings were:

• Ethical behavior is a core component of company activities. Of the 89 percent of companies that have a written corporate values statement, 90 percent specify ethical conduct as a principle. Further, 81 percent believe their management practices encourage ethical behavior among staff. Ethics-related language in formal statements not only sets corporate expectations for employee behavior; it also serves as a shield companies are using in an increasingly complex and global legal and regulatory environment.

• Most companies believe values influence two important strategic areas — relationships and reputation — but do not see the direct link to growth. Of the companies that value commitment to customers, 80 percent believe their principles reinforce such dedication. Substantial majorities also categorize employee retention and recruitment and corporate reputation as both important to their business strategy and strongly affected by values. However, few think that these values directly affect earnings and revenue growth.

• Most companies are not measuring their “ROV.” In a business environment increasingly dominated by attention to definable returns on specific investments, most senior executives are surprisingly lax in attempting to quantify a return on values (ROV). Fewer than half say they have the ability to measure a direct link to revenue and earnings growth.

• Top performers consciously connect values and operations. Companies that report superior financial results emphasize such values as commitment to employees, drive to succeed, and adaptability far more than their peers. They are also more successful in linking values to the way they run their companies: A significantly greater number report that their management practices are effective in fostering values that influence growth, and executives at these companies are more likely to believe that social and environmental responsibility have a positive effect on financial performance.

• Values practices vary significantly by region. Asian and European companies are more likely than North American firms to emphasize values related to the corporation’s broader role in society, such as social and environmental responsibility. The manner in which companies reinforce values and align them with company strategies also varies by region.

• The CEO’s tone really matters. Eighty-five percent of the respondents say their companies rely on explicit CEO support to reinforce values, and 77 percent say such support is one of the “most effective” practices for reinforcing the company’s ability to act on its values. It is considered the most effective practice among respondents in all regions, industries, and company sizes. e.

The study highlights the importance of ethics and values with the CEO reinforcing the values. Although not every company can connect whether values positively affect profit monetarily, most agree values are important. If we walked into your organization today and asked employees what the values are, would they be able to tell us? Better yet, would they identify ways the leadership exemplifies the values. There is a public distrust of corporations and government, and for good reason. Even though Enron had polished values on plaques on their walls, their leaders were indicted or went to jail. It’s not about writing the values down, placing them on the walls, or publishing them in a manual. What matters is living them out. If we cannot live the values, change the core values to something the organization (made of people) can align with and live by.

In summary:

It's important to define and redefine values that truly represent why we exist and show up for work daily. Ask yourself, ‘if today were the last day in this organization, and I was given an opportunity to make a lasting contribution, what would I do and why would I do it?’ Values define what we believe in, and how we behave. 

Reward Your Team

Teams that are cohesive will thrive when under pressure. Poorly led teams or individuals will panic. People respond to positive feedback. This causes us to want to do good. It is true we should do the right thing and our reward needs to be internal satisfaction, however in a work setting, teams appreciate recognition as support. Some managers have stated they do not believe in telling their employees they are doing good work out of fear this will de-motivate them. We continue to site research studies to show human behavior is a factor for motivating and managing teams. 

People thrive with rewards. Across industries, companies have adapted loyalty programs rewarding us with gifts. We like getting that free ‘reward’ on the Chick fila app, even though the biscuit may only cost two dollars and change. Our psyche processes this as a true reward, and we are motivated to give back with loyalty and patronage to Chick fila. We also value family time and respect Chick fila for closing on Sundays. 

When the team lives out values, call that out for the whole team to be rewarded. In 2019, I interviewed several leaders asking them questions about their strategy. Some of the common themes stated, were that people make up the company and people matter, and it’s important to reward the team and not the individual. So that employee of the month parking, how can we modify this to team recognition? This could be in the form of a day off to focus on what matters most to each member of the team. Even though monetary gain is motivational for us as human beings, and wonderful to receive, it is not always available as a feasible reward, especially when the reward is linked to living out values. Ask the team what they would like as a reward for working effectively together. People engage with what matters to them. The simple act of asking and creating space for input will motivate teams. This is a term called, ‘participative management.’ 

In this Chapter we have accomplished the following:

1. Defined culture and its components.

2. Laid a foundation for the importance of values as a core to building healthy culture.

3. Identified strategies to hire for the culture fit, assessing soft skills creatively. 

4. Provided the foundational examples of how soft skills play an important role in identifying values to operate by. 

5. Defined what participative management is with the importance of a leader who exemplifies living values, rewarding the team for following suit.