Organizational Culture

The definition of ‘Organizational Culture’ though might be seemingly obvious I feel it is necessary to put forward the elements that I believe make up a successful company culture. I have never been fortunate enough to experience a positive or even neutral company culture and the idea that such utopia could exist lead me to sit and make a list of what I believe to be key elements. Understanding your personal values and needs and how this would mesh with the norms and culture of a company is important in achieving personal and organizational goals.

Companies ‘Artifacts’ are more then the first impression pleasantries you might experience; the company I worked in had a boardroom with wood paneling, but only when you went close did you realize that it wasn’t actually wood.

The parent company, Saatchi and Saatchi had a detailed list of values and a simple mission; fill the world with lovemarks. A lovemark was defined as creating relationships that inspire loyalty beyond reason. An amazing artifact that can drive creativity in an advertising agency yet no more than 5% of the company could define the term ‘lovemark’. We had a few symbols hanging around the office but the company did not live and breath the ideals and its informal artifacts showed the disconnect.

Looking at the companies website I come across their stated philosophy, motto and vision.

Well articulated, meaningful but something I as an ex-employee only just heard. As a company it focused all its attention of putting an image that others want to see of them, but forget to integrate this into company culture. Strategically aligned culture that is not known or lived by employees is futile. Every individual in a company, from CEO to janitorial staff need to have a purpose, one that pushes them to work that much harder and aim for the stars.

Some true artifacts of the company included rituals where the CEO would email the entire office to inform them who had walked in late or taken a longer then assigned lunch. There was also an obvious change in posture and tone when the CEO walked past and employees worked with one eye over their shoulder. Superficial artifacts are easily identifiable for employees - we had an ‘ideas corner’ which could fit 3 people standing and was 4 feet away from the CEO’s desk. The company valued results, hours worked and client approval but these could also be achieved with a focus on innovative thinking, integrity and a commitment to employees and clients. A company with an articulated vision or value that is not linked to one individual for success and is continued with the employees is essential for strong growth in a company. Chatman and Cha (2003)

‘The Hawthorne Effect’ coined by Henry A. Landsberger (1950) refers to the situation when an employees alters their behavior to fit in with what is expected instead of offering their honest opinion. In my company, I soon learnt that the employees based decisions on the CEO’s opinion instead of what might be best for the client. The team altered their views when he was present and a lack of knowledge and understanding of the company mission was a key factor. An ability to be imaginative and share ideas without considering if you ‘look stupid’ opens our mind up to endless possibilities and differentiating factors; key when building successful brands. If we understood, and the management encouraged the ideology and reasoning behind ‘Lovemarks’ employees would be driven to create long