In an age where business is becoming a reflection of the dynamics and values of society, organizational culture is a critical pillar of corporate success. It is not just a set of rules or traditions, but a living fabric that shapes a company's identity influences people's engagement, and directly impacts organizations' financial performance. In our conversation about aligning individual views with corporate values and understanding the role of leadership in cultivating a healthy work environment, we invited Petya Pavlova, People & Culture Partner on our team, to comment.
What would business be without people? And what would it look like without an organizational culture?
Petya: People, organizational culture, and success are like the sides of an isosceles triangle, each equal in value to the other two. Nowadays, I would not define the term organizational culture as relevant. This definition has become the archetype of various societal constructs. Namely, a leader who sets down a pattern of behavior creates traditions and rituals, and all of this is multiplied by following blindly, reinforcing itself over the years, and forming the corresponding culture.
What role does organizational culture play in the overall success of a company?
Petya: With three, and in some cases even four, different generations in the workplace, it is extremely difficult as an employer to enforce patterns of behavior, set values, and rely on them to be embodied by default in people's minds. My observation is that the process is more of a two-way street: in recruitment, you look for symbiosis in outlook, but as new talent comes on board, it's they who are ready to make miracles happen. Usually, they come with enthusiasm and after the initial shock of being in a new place, and not knowing anyone, they are ready to initiate events, share best practices, and bring newness to the workplace culture. This brings with it a necessary dose of freshness and creates a richness of values along with their nuances. It is the alignment of personal understandings with already existing healthy rules of communication and behavior that create the culture of a company.
So far, the hypothesis is correct: if there are people, there is culture. Let's also look at the interaction of culture and business. We often forget to consider the power of the social environment in the office as a driver of various business processes and working relationships. Very often, when a person has their values and have built an identity based on their beliefs when they are in an environment that is toxic and unhealthy, they start to betray their principles and submit to other models in order to fit in. As a result, over time, this person melts down their understandings and artificially adopts those of society or quickly burns out, being pressured to share different beliefs than their own.
This environment can be seen as the soil the plant needs. By placing it in a place where we ourselves think it looks and feels good, we automatically put up frames without having familiarized ourselves with the requirements for its proper cultivation. Without watering it, giving it the light it needs, and the proper fertilizer/minerals, the flower will most likely not bloom and will soon die. But when we have the opportunity to work in an environment with the right "soil" of support, respect, cooperation, and trust, then we are poised to accomplish much more and be more fruitful in our work. Undoubtedly this reflects on the whole business both in terms of the bottom line and in terms of low turnover and happy people.
What is the impact of leadership on organisational culture?
Petya: The environment in this case is also combined with the style of the leaders in the organization. It's very important to the example that they set and who is the relationship model that is fostered. The encouragement to be yourself, to be able to share successes, to admit mistakes, and to have the freedom to manage the organisation of your own workflow is a motivator to want to give much more than is required of you. Building strong relationships based on the desire to help achieve a common goal in a project, task, or case study solution, undoubtedly contributes to greater satisfaction in the process. Only in such a symbiosis do we speak of organizational success. The correlation between people's well-being as an integral part of a company's culture and business outcomes has been demonstrated by Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neveuve, Director of the Centre for Well-being Research at the University of Oxford.
He and his team have conducted research with over 200 US companies listed on the Commodity Exchange. The results show that "If you correlate how people feel in companies and what companies do in terms of workplace well-being with their financial metrics measuring company profits, return on investment or gross profitability, you will find that there is a strong positive relationship between how people feel in the workplace and company performance."
What methods do you use to maintain a high level of engagement within the organization?
Petya: The main tool to foster a fertile environment where people feel good and flourish is to elect the right leaders. Who are they and how do we recognise them? Until recently, in organizations, we looked for our most experienced colleagues who have been on the team the longest to empower them in the role of team leader or manager. This model sometimes works over time, but only if the person is willing to develop their people management skills. Very often though, the internal struggle between "I know how to make it happen because I have years of experience in the field" clashes with the new role requiring mainly support, not just solutions.
The new-age leader may not be the best expert in the field, but he has one on his team and is willing to trust him. The modern leader gives the freedom to experiment, make mistakes, and take responsibility with the person who made the mistake. These people are recognized by being self-aware, willing to swallow their ego for the sake of the team, and the company, but also have a synchrony between words and behavior. With such people, the success of any organization is inevitable.
