Your organizations cultural DNA
Whenever people get together, they develop a culture. Each social group, family group, educational group, political group and employee group has a culture, defined by the people who are in the group. Your culture has a unique thumbprint, or DNA, and while tactics, products and approaches can be copied, your cultural DNA cannot be duplicated. Cultural DNA defines how you grow, operate, and develop as an organization. Your culture is a living organization and evolves.
The benefits of a strongly defined culture
Strong cultures attract the best talent to your organization. People, both employees and customers, want to be a part of cultivated cultures. The right culture attracts people because they want to be of something living, growing and most of all inclusive and welcoming. A strong culture is also what motivates employees on a Monday, or when things go wrong.
So how do you measure and understand your cultural DNA?
Like any scientist, you start by analyzing the data. Here are some examples of data you should include in your surveys.
What are the unique attributes to how the organization:
- Collaborates
- Hires
- Gets things done
- Rewards individual and team achievement
- Shows value to employees and customers
- Communicates (frequency, channels, one way or two way)
Workstyle-hierarchical, flat, approval heavy, matrix'd, entrepreneurial/independent, familiar or formal
Leadership style-how do the executives operate and interact with employees and customers
Diversity and inclusion commitment and action
Access-what is the gap between employees and executive leaders
Perception
Aspirations (what drives employees to act?)
Leadership/Management practices and approaches
Behaviors towards customers and each other
Hierarchical diffusion
Competition
Community engagement
Organic employee led initiatives
Values lived
Trust-felt and given
Physical environment
"Slanguage"-vernacular your company uses
Develop your measurements
- Audit HR data (employee feedback, exit interviews, candidate feedback)
- Channel review (Glassdoor, social posts by employees and customers)
- Employee interviews
- Leadership interviews
- Informal focus groups
- Two surveys spaced a month apart to align and justify anomalies
Create the framework and share the narrative
Once you have gathered and measured the data, synthesize the findings into a report that defines the culture, the unique attributes, and patterns at non-manager, manager and executive levels. This will create the framework and serves as a benchmark to prepare for any major corporate initiative. Create a narrative to share with employees to broaden their connection to your company, since they are the best part of creating the culture. Every organization that is successful will need to embrace change, whether customer or employee driven. An organizations culture is a living thing, with a unique multi-prismatic thumbprint. At Cheer Partners, we have found that purposely defining and knowing your cultural DNA will help you be nimble, authentic and help drive engagement and adoption across any initiative.