By: Paul Croteau
April 5, 2009

We Manitobans are a proud people and particularly proud of our cultural diversity. Yet, how many of us recognize that each of our organizations also has a culture and this culture plays a key role in attracting and retaining quality employees?

So what is organizational culture? Organizational culture, also known as workplace culture, consists of the organization’s leaders and employees’ shared values, beliefs and behaviours. Culture even extends to the physical elements of our work environment, such as whether or not you expect employees to keep a clean work station, whether all employees have an office with windows and/or if the parking spots in front of your building are reserved for management or open to the rest of employees.

While organizational culture may not always be easy to define, employees soon learn it and visitors can easily see it. It provides a common ground for employees and is indeed quite observable. Culture is also a very powerful force in an organization. It guides how decisions are made (fast or slow), who gets promoted, who fits in and who will be successful.

So, why should a company spend time building a strong, positive organizational culture? There are a number of reasons, including the following:

Employees want more than salary – most employees will tell you they want a positive work environment where they feel welcome and appreciated. They want to feel part of the vision for their employer and they want to be recognized for making a contribution. If your organizational culture is positive, and is known as such in the community, you will attract more potential employees and more than likely these employees will fit into your culture and become successful.

Employee engagement is valued – a strong positive culture is also a key element that encourages employees to get and stay involved. They are happy with what they do and are typically working at their highest levels of productivity. These engaged employees have energy, are highly motivated and their energy contributes more to the positive culture. Innovation and creativity are welcomed – a strong, positive organizational culture is known to stimulate innovation and creativity. This, in turn, can create new products or services or improve internal processes and productivity. There is a sense of excitement in the air! 

Teamwork creates synergy – everyone wants to be and feel successful in their work. When you build a strong positive culture where people help each other, there is a lot more productivity and synergy. There is also a lot less conflict and disgruntlement. Employees are happy. They want to come to work. They enjoy working for you and, in fact, these employees become your ambassadors. They will tell others about your workplace and new candidates will come knocking on your door.

While all this talk about positive workplace culture is well and good, how does an organization go about developing a positive culture? Creating a positive workplace culture that will attract and retain employees will take time. The following elements, however, can help you create a solid path toward success:

Abandon the “50s” management style – the top down style of management where only senior managers make the decisions doesn’t work anymore.  Adopt a participative style, involve employees and develop ownership throughout the organization.

Get employees behind your vision – developing the vision for your organization needs to be a full staff event rather than limiting it to senior management. You’ll be surprised at how many ideas your employees have and, when they have been part of the planning, they will work harder for the vision.

Increase leader visibility – today’s leaders need to be “out there” meeting employees, getting to know them and helping them feel part of the company. No longer can a leader sit in their office behind closed doors. You need to create trust in your leadership. You need to keep in tune with the pulse of your organization.

Become solution-focused – teach all employees to become solution-focused. Help them to examine the problems and identify solutions before they come to you. This helps employees become independent problem solvers who can then see the results of their achievements.
Celebrate success – success doesn’t just happen at the end of a budget year, there are successes and notable achievements happening every day. Look for opportunities to celebrate individuals, teams, and projects. Keep in mind that success drives results, so glorify those individuals who embody your corporate values and behaviours.

Create a sense of team – people strive to belong, they want to be part of a team. Take time to build a sense of teamwork at all levels of the organization so that employees can see they belong not just to their operational team but to the organization wide team. Bring people together through staff meetings, conferences, training sessions or fun activities and social events.

Recognize and reward – people want to feel that they are appreciated. They want to feel a sense of accomplishment. They want to be able to see a “career” and not just a job. Recognize and reward people for their accomplishments. Examine cross training, secondments, acting status and flexibility in team assignments as a means of developing people as well as recognizing them.

Organizational culture isn’t often given the credibility it deserves. Yet, my experience is that culture plays a key role in attracting and retaining good employees. If you haven’t thought about it prior to this, then now is the time.

Research and Review: 6P Marketing

Paul Croteau, B.Comm., CMA, FCMA is a partner with Waterhouse Executive Search Group, a Canada-wide executive search firm. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 204-943-0553.