Cultural Assessment

Culture is often demonstrated through communication and decision making. While those are elements of the culture, the true meaning of culture is more complex.

Culture exists through the shared values, beliefs, and expectations in a company.
Culture is pervasive and often unseen in perspectives, assumptions, motivations, and habits.
Cultural issues can be persistent even with a turnover of employees.
Cultural bias often causes employees to instinctively react and respond in their roles.

Culture determines how employees interact with others, both internally and externally, in the organization. Culture is always determined by the owner or leadership team, whether by action or inaction, and is exemplified by the values and customs of an organization.

An existing culture manifests when the organization confronts a major challenge the outcome is often determined by is often determined by how flexible or inflexible managers and employees are in being able to deal with change. Many people who tend to be rule-followers are more rigid in nature and struggle with change. Those favoring flexibility are more open to innovation and change. A cultural clash frequently occurs when there is a mix of these employees in an organization or when two organizations combine and hidden agendas, communication issues, and employee turnover highlight underlying conflicts.

When culture is aligned with solid core values and a forward-looking strategy, effective leadership can create sustainable growth opportunities. The question often asked is how a culture is determined and changed?

One begins by identifying the core values in an organization – both existing and aspirational values.

This is often done through an organizational assessment either by internal leaders or in conjunction with external consultants using surveys and interviews of key stakeholders.
Leaders and managers then develop a plan to align their stated core values with “the way things are done” in an organization.”
Like a strategic plan, a cultural redefinition becomes an initiative that has goals, key performance indicators, and is evaluated and managed in an ongoing basis.

Culture becomes the overarching determination of all structures, systems, and processes within the organization.

Other factors to consider:

Region: Multinational, national, and local organizations are each faced with additional challenges in understanding aspects of their culture.

Industry: While all organizations have a culture, many industries also have factors that impact the culture through specific regulations and demands of a specific industry.

Strategy: Each organization has its own strategic goals. One may be growth-focused while another may be in a recovery mode. Strategic priorities can be drastically different and therefore influence culture.

Organizational Structure and Size: A larger organization has many layers of management making cultural redesign a complex undertaking. Smaller organizations may not have management layers. Organizations that are flat in nature also have unique cultural issues. Family businesses are another factor when considering cultural challenges.

Cultural Assessment

Cultural bias often causes employees to instinctively react and respond in their roles.

What is your company culture?

Do you need a Cultural Assessment?