Work Culture: [See Meaning, Types, And Importance]

Work culture is an integral part of a business. It defines the environment for everything that happens within a company. Therefore, for a business to strive, good work culture has to be cultivated and maintained.

Work culture forms the daily routine in an organization. It includes the mission and objectives along with values, leadership and employees’ expectations, structured performance management, and overall engagement levels.

Moreso, it mirrors the organization’s core values and directly reflects the organization’s leadership. As such, every firm should strive to implement a great work culture because it is key to developing a successful business.

If you are looking for an elaborate definition of the concept, work culture, the different types, and its importance, look no further, you’ve got the appropriate article. Read along.

What Is Work Culture?

Work culture is the collection of values, expectations, and practices that guide and inform the actions of all team members.

In other words, it is a collection of behaviors that makes one’s company what it is. it is also known as organizational culture.

Furthermore, it facilitates the achievement of an organization’s strategic objectives, attracts the right employees, and makes it easy to spot employees who may not fit into the job. It is not a document released or a statement but it is created through consistent and authentic behaviors.

Lastly, organizational culture is dependent on how leadership cultivates or takes care of its business, stakeholders, and employees. Hence, it flows right from the administrative body of a firm to the customers.

Types of work culture

There is a myriad of work cultures by type, but a few of them tend to dominate most industries. The larger the organization, the bigger the chances that there may be more than one culture in the organization.

However, there are four most prominent and common types of work culture, which are;

1. Adhocracy culture

Adhocracy culture is a type of culture in which organizations are flexible and not inhibited by bureaucratic procedures and policies. Organizations that adopt this can undergo a change in culture at any point in time.

Moreso, it is geared toward innovation and tends to eliminate the traditional structures of an organization. There is usually an emphasis on improvement and the work pace is extremely fast.

Furthermore, adhocratic culture is mostly used by start-ups and tech companies because it provides them the latitude to innovation which is critical to their brand and success in a market that is highly competitive and prone to constant changes.

2. Clan culture

Clan culture as the name implies is common in small or family-owned businesses that are not hierarchical in nature. Here, the focus is on interpersonal connections, mentoring, and apprenticeship programs and aims to create a feeling of family.

Organizations with clan culture value their employees regardless of their level and the work environments are supportive. The companies make sure all employees feel like equals. They feel comfortable providing honest and open feedback.

There is equally a high level of employee engagement in this culture. Though this culture might be difficult to maintain as the organization grows.

3. Hierarchical culture

Hierarchical culture focuses on top-down business decisions and it is a prevalent corporate culture in developed countries. It is defined by structure, established procedures, and levels of authority with the employees knowing where exactly they fit in the chain of command.

In this culture, it is imperative to do the right thing. Duties are clearly defined, and operations tend to be streamlined. This type of work culture enables companies to manage risk better, be stable and be operationally efficient.

Additionally, flexibility is lacking here and this may hinder the company from being innovative, agile, and responsive to sudden changes in their industries and markets.

Financial institutions, oil and gas companies, insurance, and health companies all adopt a hierarchy culture.

4. Market culture

An organization with a market culture focuses on promoting competition and rewarding winners. It is all about profit margins. Market culture is results-oriented with a strong external focus to ensure customers are satisfied.

In an organization with a market culture, innovation is critical to its success, so there is usually a constant demand to be more creative, get new and attractive products to the markets before competitors, and improve the standard and quality of already existing products.

Although, the downside of this culture is that, employees’ satisfaction and experience are given less empathy. More so, the high expectations and constant demand to produce often burn out employees.

Other types of work culture include:

5. Authority work culture

It is defined by strong leadership and confident employees. In this type of work culture, there are more competitions where employees strive to be the best in their field.

6. Enjoyment work culture

This work culture involves having fun and a sense of humor. It’s seen more in an informal or semi-formal setting.

7. Results work culture

Here, an organization’s culture centers around setting and achieving goals. Hence it is performance-driven culture.

8. Caring work culture

This culture creates an environment that cares for its employees. Also, there is strong engagement and loyalty in this type of work culture. The physical and mental well-being of its workers is of utmost priority.

9. Purpose culture

In this type of work culture, company leaders and employees share altruistic values of changing the world and encourage all employees to contribute to the change.

10. Learning work culture

This focuses more on research, creativity, innovation, learning, and development.

11. Safety work culture

This culture is usually seen in an organization where risk is involved in the day-to-day running of the company.

Leaders thrive on fostering safety through planning and taking calculated risks and doing what has worked in the past.

12. Order work culture

Here, work is well defined by procedures and rules. Employees equally have well-defined roles.

Importance Of Work Culture

One way people determine whether or not they will do business with a company is through the work culture of such a company. It affects all aspects of your business, from punctuality and communication to terms of a contract and employee benefits.

Here are some of its importance:

1. Increased productivity

An organization with a good work culture makes its employees feel like they matter.

And when you make them feel that way, the employees inevitably contribute much more to the productivity of the organization and promote the company’s name wherever they find themselves.

Moreso, when employees are happy and satisfied with their job, they work harder. Employees’ productivity increases when the organizational culture aligns with the company’s objectives.

Moreso, organizational culture influences and motivates the job performances of employees in a firm. It promotes efficiency and builds the capacity of company workers to do their best job.

2. Stimulated performance

A healthy work culture addresses both employees’ well-being and performance by finding an appropriate balance based on the company’s values.

Organizations that do not overlook the mental and physical health of the workers enjoy the efficient performance of their workers.

Additionally, employee satisfaction fosters higher employee performance and this helps the organization achieve more goals. Finally, it creates a strong talent pool of dedicated workers who will continue to bring value to the company.

3. Better brand identity

The work culture of every organization is distinct from each other. It is a reflection of a company’s core values and objectives. This also represents the brand image and identity of the organization.

In addition, an organization’s work culture transcends the internal operations of the organization, it is evident to the public.

The public can perceive it in their service or product offering and customer relationship. Hence, the stronger your organizational culture, the more pleasant your brand identity and perception.

4. Employee engagement and satisfaction

Employee engagement influences how committed, connected, and passionate an individual will be about work. It’s how an individual builds meaningful connections with a business and has long-lasting positive effects.

By building an immersive work culture, employee engagement accelerates exponentially. There is a huge potential for positive employee engagement where a favorable organizational culture exists.

5. Employee retention

Organizational retention can be difficult for many businesses in today’s competitive environment.

A strong work culture can help decrease turnover because it creates a sense of inclusivity and community even while still honoring diversity in the company.

Furthermore, a company with a good organizational culture focuses on its people which has a way of appealing to the workers. When the people are more engaged, it makes them feel connected to the company and drives their motivation to stay.

Also, when the leadership in an organization takes interest in the growth and advancement of its workers, the workers would have lesser reasons to leave.

And even if they leave, they will be leaving as happy people who would always uphold the company’s good image in public.

6. Healthy work environment

Establishing set guidelines for employees to work ensures hence orderliness and organization in the company.

A firm with a strong work culture defines a clear role and responsibility for every worker in the organization.

This way the company can curb unnecessary and unhealthy competition among the workers. Apparently, it guides employees and gives them a sense of direction at the workplace.

Furthermore, having laid down principles in the organization fosters a responsible workforce.

7. Smoother onboarding

Organizations with a strong work culture tend to have smoother onboarding experiences. They always have repeatable systems to ensure new employees have access to the resources they need to adapt and integrate with the culture of the organization.

This often translates to increased employee productivity and improved performance. Also, communicating culture will help newbies in the company understand core values and the day-to-day running of the company.

In addition, it has a way of aligning new employees with the aims of the company, making them fit in just right, accommodating their needs, and accelerating their progress.

When newly employed workers get acquainted with the job fast, they will spend more of their time-solving problems and adding value to the firm.

8. Achievement of more goals

An organization with a strong work culture can achieve more of its goals and objectives than an organization with a weak one.

With all of these put together, we can see that implementing a healthy work culture has a lot of benefits.

Moreso, when expectations are set and tasks are given to the workers, they tend to function well and see it as a priority to achieve the set goals of the company due to how well they’ve been treated and trained.

FAQs

How do you choose the right work culture for your business?

To choose the right work culture for your business, consider your organizational goals, your team’s working styles, and the changes your business is going through.

What do you do when your adopted work culture is not working?

Consult people in the same line of business as you whom you must have seen thriving in their businesses.

When should you start to implement a work culture in your firm?

Implementing it should be done as soon as you establish your firm or when you start employing workers.

Conclusion

Work culture has a significant impact on how your company approaches business. It also speaks volumes about your brand identity and influences your brand’s public perception.

However, strong organizational culture doesn’t happen overnight, it requires hard work and dedication. Therefore, to foster a healthy work environment, seek your employee’s opinions on how to improve the work culture.

Finally, you should check the article on other ways to improve employees’ work performance in your organization.

I hope you got value.

Thanks for reading.