Understanding corporate culture to get the most out of it

How do you describe corporate culture?

Also known as organisational culture, corporate culture helps to build the identity of any company (large group, start-up, etc.), to represent it both internally and externally, and to optimise inbound recruiting.

Moreover, team cohesion and the values that stem from it can be a powerful lever for motivating and boosting employee performance, as well as a significant strategic and competitive advantage.

But if you want to make the most of your company's culture, it's best to understand what it is exactly! And if you're wondering how to set up a corporate culture to better unite your employees, the answer is at the end of this article!

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Definition of corporate culture

Corporate culture is something you live and feel rather than describe.

Nevertheless, if we had to define it, we could equate it with the core values, representations and behaviours that make up the DNA of companies, whatever their size or nature (SMEs, start-ups, large corporations, etc.). This is what makes them unique.

Corporate culture can be passed on :

• informally: every company, and therefore every employee, is influenced (often imperceptibly) by the country in which it is located, by its sector of activity, by the social, economic and political context, and so on.
  
• formal: the manager (s) often choose to consciously shape their company's culture (even if it means formalising it in writing, as an appendix to the company's internal regulations, for example). Why do they do this? Because it is particularly important these days, and involves a number of issues.

The importance of corporate culture

Although corporate culture has always existed by its very nature, it has become more conceptualised in recent years.

Why is corporate culture important?

There are a number of advantages:

• corporate culture allows you to differentiate yourself from your competitors, by asserting a strong and unique identity.
  
• corporate culture helps to maintain cohesion and teamwork. It provides a sense of belonging to the same entity, and therefore :
  • limits internal conflicts
  • increases motivation and performance.
    
• corporate culture contributes to the company's brand image: it increases its "sympathy capital" and encourages a certain closeness to the consumer.
  
• corporate culture has a positive influence on recruitment. Indeed, thanks to the affirmation of the employer brand, candidates have all the keys in hand to select organisations that truly correspond to their values.

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Characteristics of corporate culture

What makes up a company's culture are its characteristics, its components (dress codes, language, managerial structures, etc.).

The patterns are very varied, since they diverge from one company or start-up to another. Nevertheless, let's look at the different characteristics that offer companies an opportunity to differentiate themselves and build their own culture.

The legend

Many companies develop their culture partly through their history and myths. They rely on real events and on the leadership of the founder to build their own legend and give continuity to the present moment (in particular to help young recruits get to grips with their new working environment).

What's more, it has to be said that human beings love stories, or storytelling, because the emotions they trigger leave a lasting impression on people's minds. Who hasn't heard of the Apple success story, which began in Steve Jobs' parents' garage?

Vision and values

A company's vision and values are now clearly displayed, both internally and to customers.

Well-being in the workplace, a commitment to eco-responsibility, fair and ethical trade... these are all virtues that can be used as leverage in setting company strategies. Provided, of course, that they are sincerely taken into account in day-to-day operations, but also in the way the business is developed and marketed. Not to mention that it's a plus for the candidate experience!

Working and management methods

Working and management methods differ from one organisation to another. Participative management or vertical hierarchical structure? Agile-based working methods or more traditional processes?

While there are no right or wrong answers, the fact remains that these components play a major part in the company's culture, and consequently in the way in which each employee finds his or her place within the organisation.

Rites

Each company builds its uniqueness and unites its teams around rituals:

• daily: breakfast, dress code, language, etc,
• occasional: afterworks, company seminars, team-building workshops, etc.

Workspaces

Workspaces say a lot about each company and its culture.

In fact, the welcoming designer offices of some companies are associated, in the collective imagination, with optimal working conditions.

Take GoDaddy, for example. The company, based in Arizona, promotes the retention of its talent by offering them a workspace where they can enjoy a basketball court, a climbing wall and a miniature golf course:

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Integrating employees into the corporate culture

It is sometimes difficult for management to define the contours of its own corporate culture. So how do you best pass it on to your employees?

Here are a few ideas.

Passing on corporate culture through concrete actions

Remember that corporate culture is something that is lived rather than imposed or learned.

Consequently, only the implementation of concrete actions, in line with the company's rhetoric and values, can instil a strong corporate culture in the day-to-day lives of its teams.

The various rituals mentioned above, for example, are all opportunities to move in this direction and bring employees closer together.

Setting an example in the executive and managerial spheres

One of the prerequisites for the assimilation of organisational culture by employees remains its sincere embodiment by management.

The same applies to management, which must draw on the company's culture to guide its practices. Otherwise, employees may feel torn and deceived by the lack of coherence between values (sometimes ostentatiously displayed on the walls of the premises) and actual practices.

Involving employees

Are companies really in a position today to impose a culture on their employees in an authoritarian manner? And if they do, is it the best way to establish their corporate spirit?

Since the answer (as you might expect) is no, some organisations are now involving employees in defining the company's values, so that they can take greater ownership of them and find them more motivating and inspiring.

On the other hand, this positive involvement of employees needs to be maintained over time, since corporate culture evolves over time, particularly when there are structural changes (when the company grows, for example). That's why it's important to maintain the link with teams, by regularly gathering feedback on their employee experience and their attachment to the company culture, using a tool such as Clarity Wave's EPIC application.

Clarity Wave interface at a glance:

© Clarity Wave

💡 Note that employees are also the best ambassadors for passing on corporate cultures to newcomers. For this reason, some structures set up a mentoring or sponsorship system when a new recruit arrives.

Focus on communication

Communication initiatives, both internal and external, help to spread the company culture.

• Internally, certain tools help to strengthen communication and the spirit of collaboration. One example is Jamespot, which functions as an internal social network. By encouraging internal communication, collaboration and ideation, the software is a good way of maintaining and developing the corporate culture collectively.

• Externally, communication campaigns, logos and baselines help to establish a brand's identity and essence in the minds of consumers.

Some companies don't even need to use their brand name or slogan to be immediately identified by their logo:

REVENGEX

Spreading corporate culture through recruitment

We have seen that a company's culture has a positive impact on recruitment.

For this reason, some human resources managers opt to distribute differentiating job offers, in which the company's traditions and values are described precisely and in an appropriate tone.

Knowing a company's culture in advance (and adhering to it) means you have all the cards in hand to embody it to the best of your ability when you join.

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What are the limits to corporate culture?

However, companies must ensure that their culture does not become a brake on their development. If it is too rigid, it will not be able to properly embrace change, particularly that linked to digital transformation.

It should also be remembered that the organisational culture does not have to be indoctrinated: its acceptance by the workforce is the key to its development. As a result, companies sometimes have to deal with the emergence of sub-cultures within the same structure. Accepting, for example, that an accounting department does not adopt strictly the same working methods as an IT department means preventing certain employees from feeling aggrieved or marginalised.

Sincerity, scalability, collective support, transparency and consistency are, in the final analysis, the values that underpin the dissemination of a strong corporate culture that fosters commitment and performance.