Organizational Culture

Culture is more than engaged employees, it is how they engage in work.

Culture is the invisible threat that makes all work possible. It is defined by the shared values that influence leadership, trust, and effort. Culture is in the habits, hopes, and fears of the people of an organization.

Leadership has a vital role to steer and cultivate the culture of their organization to create success. By intentionally cultivating culture, leaders create positive and effective teams.

What is a culture cultivation plan?

A culture cultivation plan is a way to understand and shape the culture of a group. It will give you a sequence of steps that begins with understanding the current values, how those values could be influenced, and a sequence of actions to get the best result.

How to create a culture cultivation plan.

1. Determine Current Values: Using surveys, interviews, and other data sources, create a list of current values that dominate your organization. This list may have positive values, or values that you would like to get rid of.
2. Create a Values Needs Matrix: Create a matrix of values that lists the current values, the values your employees need, the values you want them to have, and the values you want to get rid off.
3. Create a Cultivation Plan: Values are like plants in a garden, they grow over time if you provide the right nutrients. You also need a plan to weed out the values that you want to get rid off. For each value that you want to grow or weed out make a plan to address each of the following:
   • What policies and procedures need to be adjusted to shift this value?
   • What communication needs to take place?
   • How do we make hiring and promotion decisions?
   • What training could take place?
4. Execute the Plan: Start small and don’t forget to take the right time to succeed. Shifting values too fast can alienate employees or cause disruption to workflows. Values are grown over time.