When it comes to cultivating organizational culture, everyone plays a part. A healthy company culture is often built on a company’s mission, vision, values, strategy, and business activities.
Organizational leadership may set the stage by defining the culture. Culture then shows up in how people behave and communicate, in traditions and events, in what’s measured, recognized, and rewarded, in policies and practices, and even in the appearance of the workplace. Establishing and sustaining a healthy organizational culture must be deliberate, purposeful, and ongoing.
Human resources professionals have unique opportunities to support and showcase organizational culture. Here are just a few of the ways:
Hiring
The goal of the hiring process is to identify the best-qualified candidate for the job. That person must have the skills and abilities to perform the job and be willing and able to meet the expectations of the defined culture. HR can develop behavioral or situational interview questions that point to things like the person’s values, communication style, motivation, and approach to building relationships.
Onboarding
Culture can be on full display during a well-structured onboarding program. As new hires are introduced to the business overall, including practices, processes, communication channels, and expectations, onboarding staff can show how all of these demonstrate the culture.
Benefits Plans
If a company’s culture puts flexibility and family near the top of its values, plans might include fertility benefits, elder care, or time off for the adoption or the death of a pet. If the culture prizes drive and competitiveness, consider meal allowances or extra travel perks.
Recognition and Rewards
HR is chiefly responsible for developing recognition and reward programs, like pay-for-performance, incentive programs, spot bonuses, and more. Depending on the defined culture, HR can create approaches that reward things like collaboration, achieving specific results, innovation, learning, or risk-taking. Equally important may be the rewards themselves. Pay increases or cash bonuses are perhaps the most popular, but other approaches can more intentionally reflect the company’s culture. For example, a company that values health and well-being may reward with a wellness day off rather than a gift card to a fast-food restaurant.
Measure and Assess
HR receives direct feedback in formal and informal ways about what it’s like to work for their organization. Feedback comes from places like exit interviews, stay interviews, employee suggestions, feedback, and employee surveys of various kinds. In particular, HR can administer culture surveys at regular intervals to gain insight into how team members experience the culture. As with any survey, organizational leadership should be willing to take action on some of the results to show sincere interest in how employees think and feel.
Champion and Coach
HR is often positioned to hear about the day-to-day life of employees and can observe firsthand where cultural alignment and misalignment happen. For example, HR may become aware of gossip or poor handling of conflict. They can coach and train supervisors and staff to adopt behaviors that more closely align with their cultural norms.
While a successful organizational culture is everyone’s responsibility, HR can provide tools, resources, awareness, and influence that can have a meaningful and lasting impact. Employers Council offers classes, available to members (at a reduced rate) and nonmembers, to help HR professionals and leaders develop effective communications, manage conflict, and build emotional intelligence, all elements of successful workplace cultures. Members can also access our resources on hiring, onboarding, and more. Click here to learn how to become an Employers Council member.