5 Things You Should Know About Corporate Culture

Discover the five components needed to create your company's positive corporate culture. Your corporate culture can make or break your company, so a practical set of guidelines can help make the process of building one easier and sustainable.

Corporate culture is all about the people who work behind the scenes of your brand: customer support, research and development, marketing and advertising, business development, human resources, accounting, to name a few. Every single person in each of these departments makes up a part of your company’s inner society which is formed by shared vision, values, business and interpersonal practices and attitude. This society can either make your company thrive or nosedive.

Although it seems easier said than done, fostering a positive corporate culture is the result of following practical guidelines, and being consistent about doing so. You have to be a leader in the truest sense of word, and not just a director. As leader, you serve the company as its visionary, its trailblazer into the hopeful future, but you still have to follow a recipe. Miss one ingredient and it will be like leaving the flour out of the bread.

Here are five components that will provide a foundation upon which you could develop your company's corporate culture:

1. Vision - You need a set of goals towards which everyone can enthusiastically strive. What is the purpose of your company - not just to your customers and you, but to your employees too?

Is it just a place to work and earn a paycheck, or is it a place where your employees can truly grow their potential and serve a bigger purpose?

Is your company just a simple payment platform, or is it a solution that can boost a local economy, and provide a platform through which people can lend financial support to loved ones? It’s all about how you interpret your business for the people working for you (not just your customers), and this can have a positive impact on their attitude about their job and their sense of purpose.

2. Values - Values give your employees a code to live by at the office. We place values at the forefront as they guide our practices and behaviors. No person is an island, so working harmoniously with peers is what can positively impact your organization's culture.

3. Practices - Values are meaningless unless they are put into practice. You should always encourage your team to wear the company's values on their sleeves, to make them their own and to use them as a reflection of their own character and desire to evolve as people and professionals. As leader, you must lead by example. You would do this by following through on goals and promises, always being open and honest with employees, and by working well with others, regardless of their role and position.

4. People - If values and practices are the recipe for your corporate culture, then people are the ingredients. Ingredients make the recipe change from an abstract idea into a tangible reality. Through your adventures in building your team of talented and committed people, you should know ahead of time what you want out of your employees. What you want should include skills, but also the ability to embody the culture you want to develop and maintain in your organization. In fact, it is very important that during interviews you screen for a cultural fit as employees who will fit into the culture will stay the longest, and be the most motivated and productive employees.

5. Environment - It is not good enough to have all of the above if you don't have the physical environment that can make it all possible. Some offices create an open-concept environment that fosters interaction and teamwork, and manifests the concept of transparency that is so highly valued. Executives and management do have their own offices, but doors are seldom closed, creating an environment where openness and approachability are held in high regard.

If you include these five components in your attempts to develop a positive corporate culture, you could be well on your way to a fruitful future. You will encounter many trials along the way, but a practical framework will always keep your company on track.

Learn from this Great Example of a Powerful Corporate Culture from none other than: Apple.

A walk through the culture of Apple.

Insights can be gained by examining the cultural artifacts and inferring underlying beliefs and value structures.