Building a strong organizational culture fosters shared vision, trust, and community—key elements for driving morale, productivity, and lasting success in today’s diverse workforce.
by George Manning
It is culture that separates one society from another and one organization from another. It’s what people mean when they ask, “What is it like to work there?” Think of Apple’s “apple” that brings to mind Newton’s discovery of gravity under the apple tree; Nike’s “swoosh” that represents speed, movement, and velocity; Disney’s “Mickey” that symbolizes entertainment for the young; IBM’s “Think” that stands for using one’s brain to achieve excellence; and Amazon’s cultural mantra, “It is always day one,” intended to keep Amazon leaders engaged and on taGr
The stronger the culture of an organization, the more one can think about it being the “personality” of an organization, because it deeply and consistently impacts the way its members behave. Consider the examples of U.S. Marines and Jesuit priests. Consider the “personalities” of the U.S. Air Force versus the U.S. Army, The University of Chicago versus Notre Dame, and Walmart versus Saks Fifth Avenue.1 In Complex Organizations, Charles Perrow writes, "Rules govern about 20 percent of an organization's behavior, while culture determines 80 percent.2
When it comes to organizational success, Peter Drucker is known for saying culture eats strategy for breakfast. Management author Jocelyn Davis goes further to say culture eats strategy, policy, organizational charts, and management directives.3 A Harvard study discovered that a strong culture increases profits by 756 percent over a period of 11 years. In contrast, sick cultures lose their ability to attract and keep top talent, which means that, sooner or later, they sink into a second rate level of mediocrity.4 In Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar Schein states that the creation and management of culture is the leader’s most important role. An organization’s culture fulfills four functions: (1) provides organizational identity; (2) facilitates collective commitment; (3) ensures social stability; and (4) determines norms of behavior.5
Herb Kelleher, founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines explains, “Culture is one of the most precious things a company has, so leaders must work harder on it than anything else.”6 A positive work culture is the essential ingredient for organizational success. It is required to create and sustain high employee morale and high work performance. This leadership challenge has never been more difficult or important than it is in a post-covid world.
Building Community
An important aspect of organizational culture is a sense of community or lack of it. In A World Waiting to Be Born, Scott Peck identifies the leader within a group or organization to be a potential obstacle to creating community. Specifically, no matter how deeply those at the bottom or middle desire it, community will be difficult to achieve if those at the top are resistant. Conversely, if the leaders are the kinds of people who want community, they can probably have it. They may have to work hard for it. It may require time and resources. But if leaders want to achieve a positive and healthy human environment, it can be done under almost any circumstances.7
The word community evokes a culture of democracy, diversity, cooperation, inclusion, and common purpose. The model under which an organization chooses to operate can determine its survival in a competitive and changing world. The idea of community at work is particularly satisfying to the makeup and challenges of today’s diverse workforce.8
Community is experienced in two ways: as a group of people and as a way of being. The first type of community is formed by bringing people together in place and time. The second is created when barriers between people are let down. Under such conditions, people become bonded, sensing that they can rely on and trust each other. When people experience a feeling of community, their potential for achievement becomes enormous.
The benefits of interrelationships can be found everywhere in nature. If a gardener places two plants close together, the roots commingle and improve the quality of the soil, thus helping both plants grow better than if they were separated. If a carpenter joins two boards together, they will hold much more weight than the total held by each alone. In the human sphere, our challenge is to apply the creative cooperation we learn from nature in dealing with those around us. The essence of this is to value differences, build on each other’s strengths, transcend individual limitations, and achieve the full potential of community.9
As writer and educator John Gardner explains, we are a community-building species. He goes on to describe the conditions necessary to experience true community:10
- Shared vision. A healthy community has a sense of where it should go and what it might become. A positive and future-focused role image provides direction and motivation for its members.
- Wholeness incorporating diversity. A group is less of a community if fragmentation or divisiveness exists—and if the rifts are deep, it is no community at all. We expect and value diversity, and there is dissent in the best of groups. But true community requires facing and resolving differences.
- Shared culture. Success is enhanced when people have a shared culture—that is, shared norms of behavior and core values to live by. If a community is lucky, it has shared history and traditions as well. This is why developing communities must form symbols of group identity and generate stories to pass on core values, customs, and central purpose.
- Internal communications. Members of a well-functioning community communicate freely with one another. There are regular occasions when people gather and share information. There are opportunities and means for people to get to know and understand what others need and want. Communication is uncensored and flows in all directions within the community.
- Consideration and trust. A healthy community cares about its members and fosters an atmosphere of trust. People deal with one another humanely; they respect each other and value the integrity of each person.
- Maintenance and government. A fully functioning community has provision for maintenance and governance. Roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes are conducive to achieving tasks while maintaining a supportive group climate.
- Participation and shared leadership. The healthy community encourages the involvement of all individuals in the pursuit of shared goals. All members have the opportunity to influence events and outcomes. The good community finds a productive balance between individual interests and group responsibilities as community tasks are accomplished.
- Development of younger members. Opportunities for growth are numerous and varied for all members. Mature members ensure that younger members develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes that support continuation of the community’s purpose and values.
- Affirmation. A healthy community reaffirms itself continuously. It celebrates its beginnings, rewards its achievements, and takes pride in its challenges. In this way, community morale and confidence are developed.
- Links with outside groups. There is a certain tension between the community’s need to draw boundaries to accomplish its tasks and its need to have fruitful alliances with external groups and the larger community of which it is a part. A successful community masters both ends of this spectrum.
In Productive Workplaces, Marvin Weisbord writes that we hunger for community and are a great deal more productive when we find it. If we feed this hunger in ways that preserve individual dignity, opportunity for all, and mutual support, we will harness energy and productivity beyond imagining.11 This is true whether an organization operates in a work-at-home, work-at-work, or hybrid way. A sense of community is the essential and golden key to having a high morale and high performance workplace.
Discussion
Evaluate and discuss the elements of true community in your workplace. What policies and practices should be continued, stopped, and started to create and sustain a positive organizational culture?
Related Reading
Work Rules by Laszlo Bock
Nuts! by Kevin and Jackie Freiburg
The Human Touch by William Arnold and Jeanne Plas
Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar Schein
References:
1. “Personality and Organizational Culture,” in B. Schneider and D. Smith, eds., Personality and Organizations (Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004), pp. 347–69.
2. C. Perrow, Complex Organizations (New York: Echo Point Books & Media, 2014), p. 198.
3. J. Davis, The Greats on Leadership (London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2016).
4. M. Kelly, The Culture Solution (North Palm Beach, FL: Blue Sparrow, 2019).
5. E. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010). See also A. Grant, Originals (New York: Penguin, 2016).
6. T. Deal and A. Kennedy, The New Corporate Cultures (Reading, MA: Perseus Books, 1999), p. 22; and K. Freiberg and J. Freiberg, Nuts! (New York: Crown Business, 1998).
7. M. Peck, A World Waiting to Be Born (New York: Bantam Press, 1993), pp. 271–98; and J. O’Toole and W. Bennis, “A Culture of Candor,” Harvard Business Review (June 2009), pp. 54–61.
8. J. Gardner, “Building Community,” prepared for the Leadership Studies Program of the Independent Sector (Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research, 1991); and J. Brown, “Corporation as Community,” New Directions (Sandwich, MA, 1993).
9. J. Gardner, “Building Community,” and J. Gardner, “Reinventing the Community,” address to the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development (Washington, D.C., December 11, 1992).
10. J. Gardner, “Building Community.”
11. M. Weisbord, Productive Workplaces, 3rd ed. (New York: Pfeiffer, 2012). See also E. Schein, Organizational Culture and Leadership (New York: Wiley, 2016).
Author: George Manning
George Manning is a professor emeritus of psychology at Northern Kentucky University. He is a consultant to business, industry, and government, serving such clients as the AMA, AT&T, General Electric, IBM, Duke Energy, the United Auto Workers, Young Presidents’ Organization, the U.S. Navy, and the National Institutes of Health. He lectures on economic and social issues, including quality of work-life, workforce values, and business ethics. He maintains an active program of research and writing in organizational psychology. His current studies and interests include the changing meaning of work, leadership ethics, and coping skills for personal and social change. He is the author of the best selling leadership text book, The Art of Leadership. He regularly writes on McGraw Hill "Leadership Today."