Company Culture

Every organization has a culture, whether it’s a family, a company, a sports team, a church, or a geographical community. Culture is comprised of the behaviors, symbols, language, and systems everyone in the organization abides by.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • What’s the undertone or overall feeling in your office?
  • What does your workplace sound like? Is it quiet with lots going on in private or bustling with life, phone calls, and water cooler chatter?
  • How does your office treat people who have extended needs for time off from sickness, maternity leave, or loss?
  • How does your organization treat new team members? Is everyone welcomed with open arms or do you need to “earn your way in”?

Based on my experience, company culture is one of the most vexing issues for Executives in companies large and small. When it’s healthy, the organization thrives; when it’s not, the toxicity and dysfunction are evident in every single aspect of the business. It shows up in engagement, retention, absenteeism, waste, lack of productivity, internal and external complaints, stress levels, and health care costs.

Fortunately, I have 25+ years of experience recognizing, understanding, and transforming cultural issues. Cultures are created by design or by default; unfortunately, most that I’ve encountered have grown by default! The good news is, you can take steps to proactively and intentionally change the culture in your organization if what you have currently is not serving you, your organization, or your clients.

The most effective starting point is clearly defining organizational values — not the ones you post on the wall, rather the ones you actually live by. From there, it helps to define the behaviors, language, communication channels, and reward and recognition programs that affect the “benefits” employees gain by working in your company.

By lining up your desired culture with your values, your team will be energized to do good work without the messiness of negativity bringing everyone down. Attending to the quiet impact culture has on your team, you remove the obstacles that negative work culture has on productivity and results. I’ve seen this work in transforming the culture in businesses large and small, as well as in both Guatemala and Paraguay; it’ll work for you, too.

When you’re ready to transform your workplace culture, call me at 304-916-0348 to discuss this investment or email me at laura@lauraprisc.com and together we’ll design a strategy custom-fit for your situation.