What Does Culture Mean To You?
Every working environment has a culture…the way they do business. Miriam-Webster.com provides this definition:
Culture – the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization.
Our intuition reads the culture of a company, even without being aware of the stated values and practices of the company. What would you say are the shared values, attitude, goals and practices of your company? Step back, look at the employees, and ask how do they perform their work and react to you or other managers. Do they seem empowered to do their work? Yes, there are individual differences, yet overall we learn a lot by the way employees perform their responsibilities. What about the customers? How do they feel about working with the company?
Has your company created their values? If so, have they been shared with the employees? When you view the value’s statement, does your company adhere to those values? If not, what values do they not meet?
The culture isn’t all about the organization; you also bring your values and practices when you come to the company. It’s hard for people to digest this because they don’t always see their part in the creation of the company’s culture. In the U.S. some individuals feel they can’t really influence the outcome of an election because they are only one vote. It’s taking the “I am powerless to make an impact” role. It’s tempting to push off the culture to something that is bigger than you are, yet you are more powerful than you acknowledge.
Since you are part of the culture, what are your values? What are you committed to when managing employees? Here are some ideas…create your own list.
- Do you want employees who are empowered to do their job?
- Do you value change?
- Do you value the importance of being a strong manager?
- Do you listen to your team members?
- Do you encourage ideas?
- …and more
What if you were to believe that you could make a difference? How would you feel if you made a commitment to do just one thing differently to add value to managing your employees? You may have good intentions when managing, yet your employees will respond to your behaviors.
Take the time today to evaluate the culture of the company…what works for you and what doesn’t. Create your list of values. If you company has stated values, take one of them and promote that throughout your department.
Decide today to make a positive difference, no matter how small, in managing your employees. Ask yourself each day, “what value is important for me to focus on today?” Or give yourself 30 days to drive one value. You can add value to the culture of the organization by starting today and committing to one small change in managing employees.
Pat
Next Topic
What Is Your Relationship With Your Employees?
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This is a wonderful book “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference” by Malcolm Gladwell. The author provides a strong understanding how decisions or actions that you make influence change…sometimes radically.
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Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney by
Lee Cockerell. Brand new book on the scene regarding leadership. Disney is known for its culture and the author was instrumental in its creation.
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The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace by Ron Alsop. This is an important topic for all managers as this large generation is influencing the workplace. Become knowledgeable about the millennials and balance this information with your own values.
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