Monday Morning Musings-Corporate Culture is a Choice

A company's corporate culture results from a series of choices made.  It is not accidental.  How the company treats its employees and customers, how dissent and dissatisfaction are handled, openness of communications, employee continuing education practices, and leadership philosophies are some of the choices made which result in the company's culture.  Failure to act is a choice just as much as action is.  If employee complaints are systematically ignored, that failure to act becomes part of the culture of a company.  Also remember, perception is everything.  If your grievance process is generally perceived to be unfair and one-sided, for example, investigate why and take action accordingly. Maybe further training is needed, maybe the process itself needs to be revamped.  Regularly monitor the effectiveness of corporate policies and also whether those great-sounding policies are consistently implemented and work as intended.

I believe there can be an overall corporate culture but also micro-cultures within the organization which can sometimes be at odds with the organization's general culture and philosophies.  Different managers have different styles.  An employee's work experiences are most directly affected by their interactions with immediate and proximate supervision.  The CEO of a large corporation may be a fantastic person and manager but some first level supervisor in another location or department of the company may not.  Top-notch selection processes and proper managing of managers at all levels is important.  Think about what type of corporate culture you want as a leader, then act and hold others to those same standards.
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