A strong corporate culture shapes an organization’s values, purpose, business strategy, and workforce. It evolves through leadership decisions, policies, and workplace behaviors, influencing engagement, recruitment and retention, and overall business success. Leaders must ensure their culture supports employees, as neglecting culture can lead to losses in productivity, team members, and profits.
Indeed describes corporate culture as ” a company’s beliefs, behaviors, ethics, vision, and work environment. It determines how employees and management interact in the workplace.”
Guidelines to building a strong corporate culture
In her article Build a Corporate Culture that Works, Erin Meyer outlines six guidelines for shaping organizational culture.
- Base culture on real-world dilemmas
- Turn culture from abstraction to action
- Define culture in clear, practical terms
- Hire the right people to shape the culture you want
- Ensure culture drives strategy
- Balance idealism with practicality
Two principles that stood out to our team are using real-world dilemmas and moving from abstraction to action.
Real-World Dilemmas: Putting Culture to the Test
Culture isn’t values on a poster—it’s about how employees make decisions in real situations. To support this, leadership should define cultural values in ways that guides action and behaviours.
For example, if teamwork is a core value, consider how employees should respond to dilemmas that test organizational values.
Scenario: A project team is facing a tight deadline. One team member spots a recurring data issue that could delay delivery but might cause bigger problems for the client later. What should they do?
- Collaborative Accountability Approach: The team openly discusses the issue, reallocates tasks, and upholds the value of transparency. The company reinforces phrases like “we succeed together” and “open communication fosters innovation.”
- Efficiency-Focused Approach: The team prioritizes on-time delivery and defers the issue for later. The culture emphasizes “delivering results is our top priority” and “focus on solutions, not problems.”
By defining how dilemmas should be approached, leaders ensure employees act in alignment with company culture. As Meyer notes, “When employees face situations with various credible responses, they can either make a choice based on personal preference or be guided by the culture of the company.”
Moving Culture from Abstraction to Action
Culture statements like “We value teamwork” or “We prioritize innovation” can be vague. Employees need to understand how these values translate into daily decisions. Leaders should replace abstract statements with clear behavioural expectations, ensuring employees see how their actions drive the organization forward.
A strong corporate culture is not just what a company says—it’s what employees do when faced with real challenges.
How leaders can foster alignment of a strong corporate culture
To strengthen the alignment between workplace practices and culture, leaders should evaluate three key areas.
Foundational HR Practices
Recruitment/On-boarding/Off-boarding
- Clearly communicate culture during the hiring process so candidates understand workplace expectations.
- Reinforce cultural values during onboarding so employees see how they are put into action.
Employee handbook and policy manuals
- Ensure policies align with the culture you want to build.
Job descriptions
- Align job responsibilities, skills, and requirements with cultural values, for example, if formal education isn’t a priority, focus on skills and experience instead of degrees.
Learning and development opportunities
Training and professional development opportunities
- Consider how professional development fits within your culture.
- Do managers encourage training, or must employees advocate for themselves?
Engagement practices
- Do you measure employee engagement through surveys to gauge employee perceptions of the current culture?
- Do employees feel connected to the organization’s mission, vision, and values?
Compensation and benefits
- Do your total rewards practices align with your organization’s ideal culture?
- Does your compensation and benefits offerings align with your values? Ex. A non-profit organization may provide employees a day off to use for volunteer work.
The Impact of a Strong Corporate Culture
Strengthening corporate culture is essential for engagement, retention, and business success. What we know is that culture begins at the top; leadership practices and behaviours must embody the organization’s ideal culture in order for it to take root in all areas of the organization. By aligning policies, leadership, and daily actions with cultural values, organizations create an environment where employees thrive and contribute to long-term growth.
If your organization is struggling to build or reinforce a strong corporate culture, reach out to People First HR to discuss tailored solutions that can help your business succeed.