Culture. Whatever you are striving for, you know what it feels like when you get it right. You will also know the profound impact on employees and the broader organisation when your ideal is not achieved.
So, the question remains: how can we improve our organisational culture?
Perch
Improving company culture requires reflection and consideration. So to begin, we must create a space that allows for us to evaluate, change and enhance. A good way to do this is to introduce the notion of ‘perch’. Think about a bird perched on a branch. Why does it do this? For rest, reflection, to take in their surroundings and to plan where to fly next. So a great way to create space is to introduce this notion of perch into your day, week, or month. Begin your day by having a perch or schedule a monthly meeting that specifically holds space for a perch, allowing time for reflection.
Let’s not focus on culture
Once you have made space for change, what if we said let us not focus on culture directly?
‘Culture is how a group does the things it does. It changes because people start doing things differently or start to do different things’ (Beer, 2021).
With this in mind, let’s turn our attention not to culture directly, but to how a company goes about doing things. How your organisation does things will be driven by your leadership team, and therefore how your company is led, managed and organised is crucial. Can you have open and honest conversations? Do you have people with the right capabilities to perform their job at a high-performance level? Are people committed? If the above statement is accurate, beginning with working on how your company does things, will then result in an improved culture as a by-product.
Belonging Cues
Another approach to enhancing company culture is to foster a sense of belonging among employees. Belonging cues, which are often subtle signals, convey acceptance and value within a group or setting. An illustrative example comes from WIPRO’s call centre in India (The Culture Code, 2018), which struggled with high employee turnover and feelings of disconnection. Their solution? Alongside the usual training, they dedicated an extra hour to help new hires reflect on personal strengths, asking, “What’s unique about you that drives your best performance?” Following this, employees received a branded sweatshirt, symbolising their inclusion. Such seemingly minor gestures had a significant impact, boosting engagement, reducing turnover, and enhancing positive company culture.
Consistently offering a stream of belonging cues can improve your employees’ sense of connection. By nurturing this sense of belonging, you pave the way for open dialogue, boost employee well-being, foster teamwork, and cultivate an environment for innovation.
Not sure where to begin? Speak with us at Tribus People, we support senior leadership teams to find the right talent, develop leadership capabilities and align teams around a shared vision for the future.
Reference List
Beer, M., 2021. To Change Your Company’s Culture, Don’t Start by Trying to Change the Culture.
Coyle, D., 2018. The Culture Code. 1st ed. New York: Bantam Books.
