The importance of corporate culture

In the role of HR Manager (HRD), I emphasize the importance of corporate culture in the formation and management of human capital. Corporate culture is an integral part of a successful business, and its effective management becomes the key to creating a unique and inspiring environment within the company.…

This is how articles and lectures on the importance of corporate culture usually begin.?

One day, I came across the following definition of various working slangs: "Any slang is designed so that community members understand each other better, can form meanings in a more specific way, and information exchange within the community is simplified. An exception may be lawyers and financiers who, using slang phrases, achieve the opposite effect only in order to "flash" their knowledge to mislead the interlocutor and exalt themselves in front of him."

Let's leave the work with ego to the specialized specialists and return to HR.?

Let's figure out the meaning of corporate culture, for what, and most importantly for whom it is created and developed.

So, absolutely any company, any business is a community of people who, by doing this or that job, come to the goals set by the CEO or his replacement body. Therefore, we can safely say that it is the employees in the company who will become the key factor that directly affects the level of success of the company.

As strange as it may sound, no one has canceled Maslow's pyramid, which means that each team member has their own levels that they need to close. For example, for someone these are physiological needs, and for another it is self-actualization or the need for recognition.

How can we unite and direct such different people? How to communicate the company's goals correctly? How to maintain order and ensure mutual understanding in the team? How can we convey to everyone that they perform their tasks not only for the sake of money?

All these functions are assigned specifically to the corporate culture. It is impossible to underestimate its importance.

When should it be developed and applied? From the very start. As soon as more than two people gathered in the company. Of course, not all at once. Corporate culture is how society will interact in the form of a team. The larger this society is, the more it will be necessary to offer, explain and encourage in the team, but the larger the team, the more results can be achieved.

The reflection of the corporate culture in the company can be seen in literally every process. Communication style, work schedule, holidays, relationships with colleagues, partners and clients of the company, employee development are all also part of the corporate culture.

If we consider the collective as an organism, then corporate culture is the spine that holds and fixes all organs and, of course, holds the head (CEO). All processes related to corporate culture are a muscular body that gives strength and binds together all organs (departments and employees).

Well, now about what the corporate culture really gives. Let's start from the very beginning of the path of a new team member.

A well-developed corporate culture gives an additional impetus to building a high-quality company brand and HR brand, which significantly increases the number of candidates for new vacancies and increases their level of professionalism.

Thanks to the introduction of processes that are part of the corporate culture, a new employee goes through the adaptation period faster and easier, and most importantly more efficiently, and the number of rejections from the offer during this period is significantly reduced, because the new employee is immediately involved in the work, receives the attention and knowledge he needs at the initial stage. Simply put, he feels needed here.

A high-quality corporate culture builds relationships within the team, which also has a positive effect on the atmosphere in the team, as well as on the quality and time of tasks.

Incentive and loyalty programs, which are also part of the corporate culture, allow employees to grow professionally and personally, which has a positive effect on their commitment and engagement, as well as a positive effect on hiring new employees, because happy colleagues will be happy to bring friends with high-quality experience to you and form loyalty to the company for them themselves.

You can also give a lot of examples of positive influence, but this is relevant only if there is a high-quality and thoughtful corporate culture, but what happens if negative factors appear?

The thing is that if you do not systematically engage in the development of corporate culture, then it will not take place under your control. Conscious conditions for creating an acidic environment can become a secondary factor in negative development. You will be surprised, but such companies also exist and they are successful in their own way. For example, the company Uber, where, in fact, the cult of personality and personal achievements is put at the forefront. Of course, there are teams there too, but you must agree that it is not easy to work in a team where you can be framed for the praise of a leader or promotion. It is not uncommon for such experiments to lead to substantial bills for the work of a psychologist with you.

Let's consider the options for negative influence, more precisely, poor-quality or absent corporate culture in the company.

Lack of mutual understanding and interaction between team members or teams, bullying, conflict formation, and imposition can lead to the formation of a toxic environment. What is the risk??

First of all, this is fraught with the fact that the company will begin to lose high-quality personnel, teams will break up, the selection of new candidates will become significantly more complicated, and the news about how "good" it is to work in this company will spread very quickly.

Employees will lose confidence in the future and enthusiasm, which means that the quality and effectiveness of their work will also drop significantly.

There will be a limitation in the implementation of ideas, and often the number of ideas themselves, because employees are not fans of their company, it makes no sense for them to develop these ideas in this company.

Of course, you can declare great values and talk about what a great corporate culture you have, but if you do not actually fulfill such "promises", then the company may not only lose employees, but also get a lot of haters who will not fail to share this information with their colleagues.

What conclusion should I draw?

1. Corporate culture is about people and for people.

2. Without a well-developed corporate culture, it is very difficult, long and expensive to build your business.

3. Everything that is prescribed or voiced by you as part of the corporate culture must be fulfilled. Trust is a very expensive and fragile quality.