If someone watched your management team for a week, would they see your culture in action?
If the answer to that question is maybe, or you aren’t sure, then it’s time to look at your company culture.
Culture is a buzzword that’s thrown around as if we’re all on the same page about what it is and how it develops. But are we? Let’s take a deeper dive into what culture is and how it’s formed within organizations.
Culture is the collective human behavior exhibited daily by employees, shaped by your organization’s processes, policies, and systems.
Culture Lifecycle
Having a company culture isn’t something that just happens. So, how does culture develop within an organization? The following is a four-step cycle of how culture starts, is shared, perpetuated, and then reinforced within your organization.
- Culture starts with your organization’s processes, policies, and systems.
- Then leadership and managers apply those policies, processes, and systems to the everyday organizational environment.
- Employees, through engagement with leadership and management, internalize the application of policies, processes, and systems, and form beliefs, habits, and behaviors based on their experiences.
- Employees reinforce culture through their interactions with each other
For example, your management team has an open-door policy. Managers make sure they are available to their team, not just by keeping their office doors open, but also by scheduling time to check in one-on-one and with the entire team. Employees know managers are there for them and will go to them if they need anything.
That is an example of policy and culture alignment.
Compare that example with one where the opposite is true. Managers close their doors and never schedule check-ins. The policy is intended to encourage open communication, but managers’ behavior actively discourages employees from approaching them.
You have a policy, but you don’t have the culture.
That is a classic policy-culture misalignment.
Culture in Action: What It Really Looks Like
Organizations with effective cultures have high levels of engagement, a positive impact on their employees’ lives, and strong organizational performance and market success. Breaking it down, it looks like having policies that your leadership and management embody, and therefore so do your employees. And by having that alignment, employees feel good about showing up to work.
Let’s look at three types of culture that most companies would like to have, and the policies and management practices that embody them and provide the foundational support for those cultures.
As you read through these, if you have any of these policies, ask yourself this question:
How are these policies being supported and implemented by managers?
1. Honesty and Trust
Policies that show you value honesty and trust in your employees can include things like unlimited vacation days, flexible schedules, or hybrid or remote work options. These policies acknowledge employees as responsible and capable of effectively managing their workload and time.
Management behaviors that embody these policies, and therefore embody a culture in action, are measuring performance based on outcomes, encouraging employees to actually take time off, and respecting that time off by not reaching out unless it’s a true emergency.
Honesty and trust form a positive feedback cycle with your employees. The more they feel trusted, the more they trust the organization, enhancing their connection to it.
2. Learning and Growth
Having a policy that covers benefits such as tuition reimbursement, online training, or professional development shows your organization is invested in your employees’ continued growth.
Managers can support these policies and ensure the culture reflects employee development by providing coaching, meaningful feedback, and creating opportunities to apply the new skills.
A learning and growth culture changes how employees see themselves and their future within an organization. Employees begin to feel they’re building a career and making a meaningful contribution, rather than just filling a seat.
3. Recognition and Appreciation
Many organizations recognize employees only during annual awards or performance reviews. A culture of appreciation exists when managers consistently acknowledge effort, progress, collaboration, and everyday wins, not just major accomplishments.
How often do managers meet with employees to provide updates on projects, workload, etc.?
Do peers have an opportunity to provide feedback to each other?
Encouraging peer reviews and feedback also fosters a culture of collaboration and improvement. When employees feel confident sharing their thoughts and helping one another, it fosters a sense of responsibility for the team’s success.
What did you discover as you read through those types of cultures? Are you feeling your culture needs some help? Read on; we’re going to cover some steps you can take to do just that.
Culture is the collective human behavior exhibited daily by employees, shaped by your organization’s processes, policies, and systems, and reinforced by management.
Fixing Your Culture
If you want the kind of culture that inspires, embraces, and lifts up your employees (and why wouldn’t you?), start with your policies. If you have the policies in place, but you’re still finding that your retention rates are on a downward slide (which will affect your business sooner or later), then meet with your managers and find out how they are implementing those policies.
Start the conversation with managers with this question:
How are you showing up for your people?
Depending on their response, identify one action your managers can consistently practice this week. For example, the manager could start holding office hours where employees are welcome to stop by and discuss whatever is on their mind.
Small, intentional leadership behaviors compound over time to create an aligned culture employees want to be part of.
Culture in Action Takes Proactive Steps
Remember, culture isn’t just about having free soda or a foosball table in the breakroom, nor is it solely defined by the policies an organization writes. It’s defined by the interactions with managers employees experience every day. Policies provide a framework for culture, but managers bring them to life through consistent actions, conversations, and decisions.
When managers don’t do that, problems begin, and you slowly end up with high turnover and employee disengagement, leading to decreased profits.
Culture happens every day, whether it’s intentional or not. Make sure yours is driving engagement, trust, and long-term success.
Culture in action doesn’t happen by chance.
It’s strategically designed to get the best out of your employees. If your workplace culture isn’t producing the engagement, accountability, or retention you want, it doesn’t have to stay that way.
impactHR helps organizations assess their current culture, identify what’s working (and what’s not), and build practical strategies that align leadership behaviors, policies, and employee experiences with the culture they want to create.
Ready to build a culture your employees want to be part of?
Connect with impactHR today to learn how we can help you turn your culture into a competitive advantage.
