Values shape behavior and that influences the bottom line. According to one study, one-third of profit is derived from an employee-centric corporate culture. A corporate culture is based on a system of shared values, social norms and symbols that influence how participants within an organization make decisions, act and feel.
Corporate culture, which takes place at all levels of an organization, indicates how leadership is exemplified, how relationships with colleagues and with customers are shaped, and how decisions are made. It includes senior management as well as ordinary employees.
A positive corporate culture also has a positive effect on employees: In the best case, they are more satisfied and thus more productive and willing to work. Fewer employees quit when they feel good. On the one hand, this saves recruiting costs, and on the other, it enables long-term deployment planning. A good corporate culture lays the foundation for companies to achieve their goals, for employees to have a foothold in times of crisis, and for them to generally feel comfortable in the company.
The following questions can be used to summarize a corporate culture:
But how does a corporate culture show itself in everyday life? Corporate culture is something like the character of an organization, which manifests itself in a wide variety of ways:
How employees or customers experience an interaction is culture. An organization can be perceived as service-oriented and innovative, or as backward and dismissive. At the latest then, culture is no longer something abstract, quite the opposite: a hard fact in the sense of competitive advantage or disadvantage. There are many different models of corporate culture. In the following, we show you the three best-known ones.
McKinsey 7-S
This model focuses on the company as a whole, whose success is ultimately attributable to a total of seven hard and soft factors. Here, hard factors are observable, in the form of plans, concepts, etc. The soft factors, on the other hand, are less tangible, describing values, skills and ways of working that are constantly in flux.
The iceberg model
Edward T. Hall depicts corporate culture in the form of an iceberg. What we say and what we don't say is not only conveyed by words. The personal background, the relationship to the counterpart and the current situation make up the significantly larger part. In communication psychology, the iceberg model sums up precisely this relationship between the visible factual level and the invisible relationship level. Thus, the corporate culture is understood as a pattern of basic assumptions with which internal and external problems are solved. The pattern has visible and invisible elements, which means that outsiders cannot always understand everything. The tip of the iceberg sticking out of the water represents the visible elements of an organizational culture. Below that are hidden structures of the organizational culture that make up the larger and therefore important part. They influence which elements rise to the surface of the water. Only if an organization takes the invisible areas into account can it shape culture. So anyone who wants a change or a cultural shift must first be aware of the hidden factors in order to stimulate changes at this deep level that will ultimately rub off upwards.
Model according to Hofstede
According to Hofstede, culture should be understood as "the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes members of one group or category of people from another." "Culture is to society what personality is to an individual." The model includes six dimensions by which cultures can be broken down and thus better compared:
The will to change
A corporate culture must always be nurtured. It must not stand still, but should constantly evolve in order to make the company fit for the future. In this way, it plays an outstanding role in the economic success of an organization. But it is precisely in this change that the challenges lie, because if anchored rules and values are tampered with for a long time, uncertainty initially arises. To prevent this, it is essential to invest in corporate culture. In order for companies to be able to integrate constant change into their culture and still offer a climate of security and appreciation, the process must be cleverly planned and potential stumbling blocks must be removed.
A good corporate culture can be felt throughout the entire company: employees feel valued and their work appreciated, customers feel well advised. Furthermore, a positive corporate culture also has an impact on the image - satisfied customers recommend you to others and happy employees recommend you as an employer. Corporate culture is therefore an important component of employer branding.
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