Consciously Creating Culture

Who designed the culture of your organisation?

Most organisations don’t give a thought to it.  Other aspects are tightly controlled and whatever culture emerges as a byproduct is tolerated.

Targets are set, training is offered, recruitment or redundancy is managed - all of this affects the culture, but who makes sure that the culture that results is the desired culture?

I have come to understand that a brand is only ever the external expression of the internal culture.  Whatever branding and marketing agencies and directors might like to think or say - it is the culture that defines the brand.

If the culture is confident, responsible, secure, loving and caring, then so is the brand.  If the culture is nervous, insecure, fearful and greedy, then so is the brand!  

So - who takes care of the culture?

In most organisations large enough to have one the biggest influence on the culture (and therefore the brand) is made by the HR department.  They end up managing recruitment, training, redundancy, rewards and possibly discipline.  

The culture is also influenced by the behaviour of managers, whose behaviour in turn is influenced by the leadership.

To take conscious control of the culture of an organisation branding and HR disciplines need to be connected at the hip.  And crucially the leadership need to be prepared to accept training and adjust behaviour if necessary.

In the start up phase the culture and the brand and the founders personalities are of a piece.  As the organisation grows the start up culture will be diluted by recruitment.  Early recruitment will be done by the founders, who are likely to recruit in their image, which will maintain the culture.

As the organisation grows, so more functions will be delegated away from the founders and to managers.  With growth it is also necessary to adjust from entrepreneurial to organisational culture, but if this process is not carefully managed the result could be accidental rather than intended.

Success in a challenging market will depend on cultural attributes such as responsibility, team work, integrity, creativity and commitment.  How would you describe the culture of your organisation?