Culture is What You Do, Not Something That You Create in a Day
Culture, when referenced in the business climate, is another word that has nearly reached ‘buzz-worthy’ status as more and more people speak to its importance. It is commonly phased as ‘we need to create a (sales, engaged, people-first, bottoms up) culture for our business.’ It is made to seem as though culture is a task to be accomplished by introducing some new program.
What is Culture?
Culture is the sum of the actual actions, behaviors, and outcomes from your organization. Culture is not something that is developed in a meeting and executed by the employees as a part of compliance. Whether you can explain it or not, your organization already has a culture. Within a large organization, each team will, to a degree, have its own culture. Any time you have a collection of people working together some level of culture is formed.
There is always a culture
“We must build a culture,” someone says, as though there is no culture today. The more correct thought process would be that we need to create an environment where the culture can be changed. The environment or behaviors of your team today is the culture. If associates do not smile, are task-oriented, or disengaged, then that is your culture. You may not like it, it certainly isn’t what you want, but it is the current culture you are in. Step one in making a change is acknowledging the existing culture you have so you can begin to address the core issues that lead to the outcomes you already have. Only from there can you change the culture for the future.
Culture is self-sustaining
The thing about culture, since it rooted in the behaviors of all people within your organization, is that it functions like a fly-wheel for both positive or negative environments. This is why leadership is so critical to defining, supporting, and maintaining a culture. Culture becomes what leadership will accept. If poor quality is tolerated, it will then permeate like a virus throughout the entire organization and become a part of the culture. People will behave in the fashion that is acceptable to those around them.There is a very positive effect of the self-sustaining quality of culture when there is a very good environment for people to work in. It attracts more people like those already behaving the way you want. If your culture is one where everyone smiles, greets people genuinely, and goes the extra mile for customers - anyone that joins the business that does not act or serve in that same way would quickly find themselves an outcast. The culture itself will snuff out the poor behaviors when leaders maintain high standards and support all associates that reinforce that through their actions and words.Culture is a choice, but one that takes continual effort and a community that believes in the vision established by its leaders. Each member of that community is a part of whatever culture exists and can serve to be an ambassador for maintaining a positive environment or to change to something new. Culture is not dictated by a memo or a single training course, and it is not the single act of any individual. Culture is who you are and what you do collectively as an organization.What does culture mean to you? Click here or on the comments button above to share your thoughts.Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash