A company’s culture is the personality of an organization from the perspective of its employees and includes things like the company’s mission, expectations, and overall work atmosphere. Whether it’s officially documented, symbolized in the business logo, or merely an unspoken but understood definition, culture determines a company’s overall environment.
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One study conducted by Columbia University shows that the likelihood of job turnover at an organization with rich company culture is only 13.9%, whereas the probability of job turnover at an organization with low company culture is as high as 48.4%.
To better understand the various shapes and sizes of company culture and to gain more insight into what company culture looks like with real-life examples, keep reading.
Traditional
Traditional company cultures still have hierarchical structures where leadership positions are highly coveted. And such companies are still likely struggling with new communication channels and technologies and figuring out how their teams should work together.
A lot of times, strict dress codes are in place, and employees wear suits and traditional business attire. They tend to still have performance reviews, and in most practices, the organization’s bottom line is always the main concern, sometimes even above customer service and employee development.
And upper management isn’t likely to embrace newer technologies, approaches, or strategies right away without definitive proof that they will be more profitable for the organization. General Electric (GE) could probably be considered as having a more traditional company culture.
Innovative
In an innovative company culture, staying on the cutting edge of research and developments is the organization’s main priority. So, it always strives to hire the best in all fields and works to recruit elite talent. Hierarchies aren’t as common, as brainstorming and developing new and innovative ideas always takes precedence over everything else.
The company itself tends to act like a think-tank, where employees are constantly thinking up and perfecting ideas and working together on innovative projects or developing new products. Tesla and SpaceX are perfect examples of companies that have innovative cultures.
Team-Driven and Horizontal
Employees’ satisfaction and happiness are top priorities at companies with a team-driven culture. They hire talent that fits with their culture first and then look at their skills and experience because they truly believe that happy employees lead to happier customers. And they’re constantly asking their employees for thoughtful feedback and input.
Team-driven cultures are also more horizontal in structure, where teams work together constantly to pitch ideas and bring their expertise to various projects for the overall betterment of an organization. And employees will often hang out together outside of work, too. Netflix and Zappos are two examples of companies with more team-driven and horizontal structures.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, which will have more information about the various shapes and sizes of company culture.