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Organisational culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, assumptions, and behaviours that define a company. From how people should interact and behave to how decisions should be made and how work should be executed, everything is affected by organisational culture. Thus, culture can be called the personality and character of an organisation.
Leaders are increasingly focusing on shaping and maintaining organisational culture as it plays a vital role in a company’s success. When leaders understand the organisational culture, implementing strategies that align with it becomes easier. Such strategies tend to meet lower resistance and are easier to execute to get the desired results.
Factors that Influence Organisational Culture
Various factors can influence an organisation’s culture, including the following:
- Founders’ values and beliefs
- Organisational structure
- Industry norms
- Systems and processes used to handle work
- Employees’ behaviour and attitudes, and
- Leadership and management styles adopted
Steps to Building a Positive Organisational Culture
Here are seven ways that leaders can use to build a positive organisational culture.
1. Set the Vision
Setting a clear and inspiring vision can act as the guiding star for every decision and action taken in the organisation. However, it’s the responsibility of leaders to articulate the vision clearly to motivate employees and bring them together to achieve common goals.
When employees understand and support the vision, they tend to be engaged and motivated better. This translates into better productivity and timely accomplishment of goals.
2. Lead by Example with the Desired Behaviour
Since leaders are their employees’ role models, they should act and behave in such a way that they want others to replicate. The actions and behaviours of leaders can significantly affect organisational culture. Thus, calling them the organisation’s cultural blueprint won’t be an exaggeration.
When leaders are accountable for their actions and decisions, show respect to others (irrespective of their standing in the organisational hierarchy), and support collaboration, they set the standard for acceptable behaviour.
3. Empower Employees
Instead of micromanaging every step of their employees, leaders should support autonomy, involve employees in decision-making processes, and encourage them to take ownership of their work to build a positive organisational culture.
This will help employees feel trusted, which can contribute to boosting their confidence, motivation, engagement, and commitment. All these will eventually lead to improved performance and goal accomplishment.
4. Fostering Open Communication
Effective and open communication is the lifeline of an organisation’s culture. It builds trust, promotes transparency, facilitates accountability, and enables leaders to address challenges, inspire people, and strengthen relationships.
Leaders should support open dialogue, practice active listening, and ensure everyone feels heard. Being honest and respectful when communicating with employees will enhance employee morale and fortify the organisational culture.
5. Recognise Accomplishments
Celebrating successes, irrespective of how small or big they are, can go a long way in fostering a sense of pride in employees and making them more motivated and engaged in their work. Be it team or individual accomplishments, leaders should acknowledge employees’ contributions and recognise their efforts.
From informal praise to formal rewards and recognition programs, leaders can use various ways to celebrate employees achieving milestones, which can improve employee engagement and job satisfaction.
6. Encourage Innovation
Leaders should promote a culture where innovation is encouraged, risk-taking isn’t frowned upon, and mistakes are considered learning opportunities. By creating safe and supportive spaces where employees can explore ideas, conduct experimentation without fear of criticism or repercussion, and get the necessary resources for research and development, leaders can drive innovation.
This can be a game-changer for an organisation in today’s highly competitive business landscape as innovation can help it go one-up on the competition.
7. Promote DE&I
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are vital elements for a productive organisational culture. Leaders can promote DE&I by creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all employees, regardless of their background.
From ensuring fair and equal pay without gender bias and creating inclusive policies (for hiring, onboarding, performance evaluation, promotion, etc.) to promoting open communication, providing training and career development programs for all, and supporting ERGs (employee resource groups), leaders can use different ways to effectively promote DE&I at the workplace.
Final Words
Effective leadership is essential to shaping an organisation’s culture. By setting a clear vision, leading by example with the desired behaviour, empowering employees, fostering open communication, recognising accomplishments, encouraging innovation, and promoting DE&I, leaders can build and maintain a thriving organisational culture that drives success.
If you are looking for C-suite executives who can help build a positive organisational culture, contact us at InHunt World right away!
This article was written by InHunt World