Corporate culture - definition
According to an encyclopedic definition, organizational culture is a set of social norms and value systems prevailing inside an organization (company), the way it is managed and the behavioral requirements placed on its members. However, this description, while certainly very scientific and detailed, is insufficient in practice.
In our opinion, the company's culture is, first and foremost, people - after all, dozens and sometimes hundreds of rules of conduct result from the overlap of different work philosophies, views, temperaments or experiences gathered over many years of performing duties in various organizations. In a sense, therefore, we are talking about a collective culture and rules of conduct, which are an average drawn from hundreds of diverse attitudes of all employees - both trainees and C-level representatives.
What is manifested by the culture prevailing in an organization?
As we mentioned in the introduction, everyone has encountered the organizational culture of their employer, although not necessarily consciously. Sometimes, these are small details that are not necessarily paid attention to. Let us mention, for example:
- the organization's goals - this could be the pursuit of climate neutrality for a particular industry or the dissemination of a particular solution;
- transparency - you've surely noticed that some organizations are eager to share information about their internal operations, while others don't address this aspect in their employer branding efforts;
- attitude to free time - the culture in your company has a huge impact on your private life. Working in some organizations is inextricably linked to performing duties at irregular hours, while in other places, this is basically unheard of;
- feedback culture - this is also part of the organizational culture! There are companies where meetings in which views and opinions on current phenomena and problems in the team are openly exchanged are standard. There are also organizations where, for various reasons, this is not widespread. Let us point out, however, that both approaches can be justified;
- interpersonal relations - you may come across a company where contact with colleagues will be kept to an absolute minimum, as well as one where every now and then something happens that is a great opportunity to build relationships with teammates.
In practice, a company's culture consists of dozens of customs, regulations and internal standards that have a direct impact on your comfort at work. While the goals of the organization and its transparency do not have a direct bearing on your day-to-day functioning in the office, the quality of cooperation with your manager, the dress code or the freedom to customize your immediate environment do.
Why should we care about organizational culture?
Most simply because it is what makes your company unique as an employer and has a direct impact on the execution of many business processes. While not intuitive, the correlation can be very easy to spot.
First of all, the culture in your company has a real impact on the composition of the team - necessarily, a group of young, ambitious and very development-oriented specialists in a particular field will not be a good environment for someone who expects, above all, stability and a high degree of career predictability. Of course, someone like this can contribute a great deal to the organization, but there is a very high risk that this will be bought with long-term discomfort and stress.
On the other hand, strictly adhering to and promoting the company culture can make it very easy to recruit the people you happen to be looking for - probably everyone subconsciously aims to work in a place where they won't feel alone. So if you know that your company relies on young talents from Generation Z and you consider this phenomenon a positive one, it is definitely worth cultivating values and management methods that are attractive to these people. This is the essence of employer branding - by highlighting our strengths, we make it easier for ourselves to recruit professionals with matching qualities with whom we will work well in the future.
Cultivating and nurturing organizational culture is therefore an important responsibility of every person who is involved in the development of their company - this burden cannot be placed solely on those at the very top of the organization's structure. Often, even small but repetitive actions will make your team feel a much stronger sense of belonging to the group, and this, as we have already mentioned, translates into their productivity after all. After all, everyone works better when they feel comfortable in their surroundings!
What are the types of organizational cultures?
Let's now take a look at some common types of organizational cultures you may encounter in the IT industry:
Power culture
In the case of the IT industry, the culture of authority is not very popular, which is due to the size of companies in our market - we encounter it mostly in small organizations, consisting of a few or a dozen members. Basing the identity of the entire group on the person of the leader, usually the CEO, certainly provides a high degree of flexibility, but increases the risk of mistakes. We observe the culture of power, for example, at Tesla, but it was also seen for a long time at family-owned Comarch.
A culture of purpose
Companies based on a culture of purpose, also known as a culture of task, are relatively common in the new technology industry. In a sense, product companies like Dyson and Intel are this type of organization, and their hallmarks are an emphasis on teamwork, the setting of milestones in the form of product development milestones, for example, and the meritocratization of authority - for team leaders and technical managers to be respected, they should definitely stand out for their competence and experience.
Culture of the individual
Increasingly common, the culture of the individual is based on nurturing individualism and freedom for employees. It's a philosophy that is sure to appeal to people who value self-realization and don't like to feel like a “cog in the machine.” In recent years, it is this type of culture that dominates our industry, and you can find its developed form in many startups and relatively young companies. Practice shows that the culture of the individual dominates in organizations coming from Europe and the United States.
There are, of course, many more types of cultures in organizations - in practice, after all, no two companies are the same. Sometimes, however, the differences are small, and for this reason, they can be divided into individual groups. At the stage of planning your future career, it is definitely worth determining in which companies you will find yourself, and which ones you should definitely reject at the very beginning of the search for a job offer for yourself.
What should a recruiter do?
As an IT recruitment agency in Krakow, we know how important it is to match a candidate with the culture of his future workplace. It affects his retention rate (period of cooperation with a given company), productivity and, very importantly, his opinion of the employer itself. This, in turn, translates into building a good reputation for the organization and facilitates subsequent recruitment processes.
Let's face it - these days, IT professionals increasingly value their comfort at work, and it happens that they are willing to accept a more comfortable, yet slightly lower-paid offer. As salary ranges continue to rise, it's worth keeping this factor in mind, because by providing a good atmosphere in the office, you can lower the cost of employment, while increasing the productivity of the team. This, of course, translates into business results.
Finally, we should also add that expectations regarding work culture and its methodology can statistically differ between specific specialties and age groups. Our observations show that the younger the candidate, the more he or she values freedom, individualism and good relations with co-workers, while those with more experience primarily seek stability. This has a huge impact on the choice of place of employment, and best recruitment practices dictate that the recruiter take this factor into account.
Summary
If we were to summarize this article with one sentence, it would probably read: “Organizational culture is a set of values and principles that, although not necessarily visible at first glance, have a decisive impact on the comfort and productivity of the people employed by a company, and their proper promotion can definitely facilitate recruitment.”. In practice, however, much more is at stake. It is the organizational culture that constitutes the identity of your company, and without it, you will most likely never be able to create a cohesive and effective team.