National Press

Managers Play a Vital Role in Creating Corporate Culture
By Bill Crawford, Ph.D.


Companies facing employee challenges like low morale, high turnover, absenteeism, numerous customer complaints and low productivity often find that the real problem may be their corporate culture.

The dictionary defines culture as “socially transmitted behavior patterns, beliefs, and/or characteristics of a community or population.” In the business arena, this means the culmination of what employees believe, and how they behave when they are at work, especially around such issues as authority figures, responsibility, and attitude. These beliefs and behaviors can have a tremendous impact on a company’s productivity and profitability.

The problem is that very few corporate cultures are created purposefully. Instead, they have been created by old beliefs and past experiences that often are not congruent with the goals of the company today, and as it moves into the 21st century. Steps can be taken to make sure the culture supports, rather than interferes with, the goals of the company.

Management must first be willing to frankly assess the underlying beliefs, mental models
and assumptions that influence, how people react to each other, their superiors and their customers, on a daily basis. In other words, find out what the employees really think, and how this affects productivity and the
bottom line. This assessment of the current culture then becomes the starting point for what to keep and what to change based upon the goals of the company. A company must then be committed to a process to create lasting change in how people really think and behave.

Companies that have successful cultures are excellent examples, i.e., Southwest Airlines is not only one of the most successful airlines in the industry, it was recently named by FORTUNE magazine as one of the top three companies to work for in America. The importance of their culture is reflected in part of the company’s mission statement, which reads: “Employees will be provided with the same concern, respect, and caring attitude that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest customer.”

Sprint Paranet is another corporation that uses its culture as a major part of its competitive edge. The national computing network company not only has on its staff a “director of culture and fun,” but also brings every new hire to Chain-O-Lakes Resort and Conference Center (near Houston) for a five-day retreat focused on culture, team building and customer service. New hires often report that they have chosen Sprint Paranet over other, even more lucrative offers, because of the quality of the Sprint Paranet culture.

The bottom line is that culture affects the bottom line. If your organization isn’t creating a culture that supports the goals of your business, you will be leaving this all-important component of success to old habits and chance. That’s a chance you can’t afford to take!