Creating a culture at workplace

Sometime back I was asked so " How do we create a culture at work place, can an individual drive a culture at work place". Reflecting on it, here is what I could sum up:

Consistent set of values and behaviours define a culture. A culture is usually built around achieving a purpose or objective.

We can start by understanding culture from how we grow in our families. Parents define a set of values, and usually lead by example, re-inforcing them over and over again. Each family has its set of purpose- to ensure education, or have a family run business, or ensure social responsibility in most of its acts. These purposes are strong influencing factors for the culture. There might be changes within the family like loss of a loved one, or external changes like moving to a different country that might force temporary or permanent changes in its culture. Family culture may also evolve as younger members grow and start shaping family's purpose and value system.

In an organisation , a leader defines a purpose and builds a set of values that will ensure purpose is met, is the most conducive way. It's important for the leader to get a buy in from majority of its associates for a harmonious and productive work environment to evolve. If there is a strong disconnect in what the associates desire or are used to as a working culture vs. what the leader is now envisioning without a buy in, it will usually lead to sub optimal results and higher attrition. Over time re-inforcement of these values , some times modifying them builds a consistent yet evolving culture. Organisational culture is influenced by internal and external factors.

A team within an organisation can have its own "micro culture". It can be more result oriented than rest of the organisation or more empathetic, however the organisational culture or the "macro culture" that exists around this team will eventually affect or limits it culture, forcing it to fit into the larger organisation in the macro value system.

Influencing or building organisational culture is not, and cannot be an individual effort. It's best developed by sensing the external environment, thorough assessment of needs of the business and understanding of demographics of where the business operates to reach a set of values that will strike the right balance between organisational and associate needs.