In my last post, I talked about recent research from Towers Watson on the important role company culture plays in a company achieving its strategic objectives. Other research from Randstad confirmed the same:
Workers also cited several elements as critical to company culture with the top three being:
• Employee attitudes (69%)
• Effective management (64%)
• Strong trust relationships (57%)
One challenge of the research lies in its attempt to have surveyed employees describe their work culture in terms of the four categories of company culture Terrance Deal and Allan Kennedy outlined in their book Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life:
• All hands on deck culture (everyone works as a team)
• Process culture (heavy emphasis on procedure, lacks creativity)
• Work hard/play hard culture (deliver results, but enjoy time with co-workers)
• Tough-guy/macho culture (high criticism, little direction)
While I appreciate this research for pointing out the undeniable importance of culture, I can’t help but notice the decade-old list of cultures is missing a few (as 16% of those surveyed agreed). Like a culture of innovation, perhaps, or most definitely, a culture of recognition.
A culture of recognition, in which people are acknowledged and appreciated for their contributions, behaviors and actions that demonstrate company values and help achieve strategic objectives, seems to be the antithesis of the “though-guy/macho culture” described above. Such a culture of recognition is most successful at driving business results, yet it’s not reflected in this study.
What other cultures do you see missing from the list? How would you classify your culture?
