The Corporate Culture Survival Guide

02How to assess an organization's culture?

Ever walked into a company and felt an immediate vibe? That's corporate culture for you. It's the invisible hand that shapes behavior, guides decision-making, and either propels a company forward or holds it back. But how do you get a handle on something so intangible? Edgar H. Schein, in his book "The Corporate Culture Survival Guide," provides a roadmap for diagnosing corporate culture. Understanding corporate culture is not just a nice-to-have; it's a must-have. It's like the DNA of a company, influencing everything from employee engagement to customer satisfaction. To get a grip on it, Schein suggests three main methods: interviews, surveys, and observation. Let's start with interviews. They're like a deep dive into the company's psyche. By asking the right questions, you can uncover the values, beliefs, and behaviors that define the organization's culture. But it's not just about asking questions; it's about listening, too. You need to listen for what's said and what's not said, for the stories that are told and the ones that are left untold. Next up, surveys. If interviews are a deep dive, surveys are a wide net. They allow you to gather data from a larger number of employees, giving you a broader view of the corporate culture. But beware of the one-size-fits-all survey. To be effective, your survey needs to be tailored to your organization, asking questions that get to the heart of your unique culture. Then there's observation. It's like being a fly on the wall, watching how people interact, how decisions are made, how conflicts are resolved. It's about noticing the little things, like who eats lunch with whom, who gets invited to meetings, who gets the prime office space. These seemingly insignificant details can reveal a lot about the norms and practices that characterize the corporate culture. Once you've collected your data, it's time to make sense of it. Look for patterns and trends. Are there certain values that keep popping up in the interviews? Are there discrepancies between what people say in the surveys and what you observe? And remember, context is key. The same behavior can mean different things in different organizations. Now comes the tricky part: identifying strengths and weaknesses. Every culture has both. Strengths are those aspects of the culture that contribute positively to the organization's performance and employee satisfaction. They're the things you want to amplify. Weaknesses, on the other hand, are those aspects that hinder performance or create dissatisfaction among employees. They're the things you want to address. In conclusion, assessing an organization's culture is not a task to be taken lightly. It requires a mix of methods, a keen eye for detail, and a deep understanding of the organization. But the payoff is worth it. By identifying strengths and weaknesses, you can help the organization develop strategies for improving its culture, ultimately leading to a more engaged workforce and a more successful company.

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