Editor’s Note: It’s Time for Organizations to Refresh Workplace Culture

A healthy culture is vital for organizational success. However, as the pandemic hit and employees were dispersed, organizations found it difficult to maintain or improve company culture. The badly affected lot were the new hires, as they were not exposed to the cultural norms and nuances within their organizations. Although organizations have been introducing programs and initiatives to bring people together virtually on a consistent basis, and trying to ensure a positive organisational culture for their staff, culture has continued to be a challenge for many companies coming out of the pandemic.

How has the pandemic changed workplace culture for the better? How to develop cultures of excellence in a post-pandemic world? How do great leaders become culture carriers, as we come out of the pandemic? This edition of Leadership Excellence reveals answers to all of these questions and provides guidance to leaders who play a critical role in defining, living, teaching, measuring, and rewarding the culture that's expected in their company.

On the cover, we have Adam Bandelli’s article, Who Are Your Culture Carriers? that talks about the focus areas for leaders to build and maintain cultures of excellence. According to Adam, leaders who wish to re-establish healthy cultures within their organizations need to fully embrace their roles as “culture carriers” and personify the company’s vision, goals, and strategic objectives.

Organizational culture must be deliberate, intentional, and given its due consideration, well before the next crisis arises, says Patricia Lenkov in her article, Your Organization’s Culture: Help Or Hinderance?

As more companies aim to accommodate work from home (WFH) and hybrid work, it is crucial for leaders on all levels to understand how to build positive, inclusive, and intentional culture virtually, says Kerry Goyette in her article, 3 Tactics To Build Culture In The Era Of #WFH.

Dale Rose in his article, Will Organizational Culture Survive The Pandemic? stresses on the fact that a healthy organizational culture still eats strategy for lunch. According to him, if leaders shift to more formal structured feedback tools, they can keep driving their culture and their organizations toward results.

In brief, organizational culture is one of the reasons why employees choose an organization or it is what makes them tick and stick around. Hence, as we move forward and look towards the day when Covid-19 is in the past, it is important to foster an engaged, connected group where culture and strategy morph together.

We hope you enjoy reading all the articles on workplace culture in this edition of Leadership Excellence and get back to us with your valuable feedback/comments!

Cheers!