Cultural Complexity

Have you ever had employees who are no longer in the system tell you that the culture they experienced with you, they haven’t been able to find elsewhere! That someone recommended someone because they felt the work culture was the best they could experience. Try probing into what the experience was and most likely you may not be able to get a clear answer. It is like an intangible asset that one can feel but sometimes cannot describe as effectively.

The dictionary definition of culture states “the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society.” From an organization’s perspective it would therefore mean a set of shared values, behaviors, and ideas that an organization lives by on a day-to-day basis.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet, it is one of the most complex concepts that still requires constant dialogue and leaves room for plenty research. Organizations use a range of words to define their culture – performance driven, caring, empathetic, high trust, inclusive, innovative, etc. In traditional research, culture is divided into four types by Robert E. Quinn and Kim S. Cameron:

1. Adhocracy culture – A dynamic, entrepreneurial, and creative working environment.

2. Clan culture – A very friendly working environment with strong resemblance to a large family.

3. Hierarchy culture – A highly formalized, structured working environment.

4. Market culture – A result-oriented organization in which the greatest care focuses on completing the work. The people are competitive, and goal focused.

Before you start slotting yourself under one of the above, let us look at the word culture again. The word ‘culture’ has its origins in the Latin word ‘colere,’ which means ‘to tend or cultivate.’ Therefore, we can also understand culture to be something that the organization organically cultivates over a period in terms of consistent experiences and work environment that their people can expect from the workplace.

My own reflections in this space have led me to believe that culture is truly something we cultivate organically and a huge part of that is how we as people work with one another and care for each other. Some critical components of culture in my view therefore are:

1. How we treat each other – respect and care are two guiding principles of how we treat someone and how we like to be treated. The days of screaming bosses and workplace politics are hopefully on the decline as employees are okay to earn a little less but not work in toxic work environments that lead to mental distress. A key skill for new leaders to develop is how not to pass their stress to teams, rather focus on bringing people together to support one another to achieve a common goal.

2. How we treat our customers/clients – the ability to empathize and foresee customer problems is going to be a huge differentiator, especially for organizations in the service industry. Our ability to empathize and problem solve and provide a space to our people to ideate freely and challenge the status quo will be critical to how we develop a culture that supports our customers and clients.

3. How we treat our support teams – our work environment should be respectful for all including the support staff that makes the day to day running of any organization smooth. It is important that the people who play the role of caregivers in some way also feel the sense of pride and connect and get valued as a critical part of the ecosystem and not as a temporary staff.

4. How we treat our community at large – social responsibility cannot be limited to photo-op moments and once in a while engagement. No training program in the world can teach you service, humility, and help you break mental inhibitions and stereotypes the way volunteering programs can. Once you engage with an identified group of people or community you end up learning and growing a lot faster than reading about the same group of people. When they said charity begins at home, I think they meant first help yourself become a better person and then rest can follow.

I believe serving others and inclusion have always been strong pillars of building strong work cultures. These core ones then can help you become multiple other things like being performance driven, or innovative, or process oriented. We are our best self when we feel included and are able to contribute to our fullest. We may end up realizing that sometimes the most complex questions might have the simplest of answers!