Organisational Culture – Why It Matters
Why do some businesses perform highly, and others get lost along the way? Have they superior products or services? Do they implement clever strategies? Or, drawing a football comparison, are their people or players just better?
All of the above are advantages, but those advantages will be eroded if an organisation is not built on a rock-solid foundation. Your culture will be the foundation for sustaining and growing these advantages and becoming a high-performing organisation.
Football has many examples of clubs buying high-performing players but ending up with an underperforming team. Fill in the blank for your favourite underachievers; there are a few to choose from ………….
Culture starts with what people do and how they do it. Say you’ll visit your favourite Italian restaurant – what people do within those 11,500+ UK Italian restaurants won’t deviate much. They all provide Italian cuisine with varying degrees of quality and price points – but high-performing businesses distinguish themselves in how they do it. This cumulative effect of what is done and how it is done ultimately determines an organisation’s performance. When I visit a restaurant, what I eat is important in addition to how they serve and make me feel when I’m there.
Additionally, and most importantly, culture encompasses why people do what they do. We can all observe what people do and how they do it—that’s all visible. The why is such a driving force of organisational culture, the shared mindsets and beliefs that influence people’s behaviour.
My favourite Italian restaurant is very proud of its regional differences in Italian cuisine. They are passionate about their food and their hospitality. Customer satisfaction, financial success and excellent reputation will then naturally follow….
Recognising that most of what matters cannot be readily seen – think of an iceberg where 90% is below water…..this is a great place to start for any organisation looking to up their game!
#Culture #Leadership #TeamBuilding