60 / LEADING OTHERS
Ensuring cultural fit
Analyzing organizational
culture
The cultural imperatives of an
organization are often not written down
or even discussed, but all successful
managers must learn what to do and
what not to do in their organizations.
In fact, the better the match between
the manager’s personal style and the
organization’s culture, the more
successful the manager is likely to be.
Founders create culture in three ways.
First, they hire and keep employees who
think and feel the way they do. Second,
founders indoctrinate and socialize
these employees to their way of thinking.
Third, founders act as role models, and
their personality becomes central to the
culture of the organization.
An organization’s culture, or personality, refers to the key
characteristics that the organization values and that distinguish it
from other organizations. Managers need to be aware of organizational
culture because they are expected to respond to the dictates of
the culture themselves and also to develop an understanding
of the culture in those they are managing.
of under-30s cite organizational
culture as important when
choosing their employers
75%
Discerning the culture
Many organizations have given little
thought to their culture and do not readily
display it. To try to find out more about
your organization’s culture, you might:
•
Observe the physical surroundings.
Look at signs, pictures, styles of dress,
length of hair, the degree of openness
among offices, and how those offices
are furnished and arranged.
•
Listen to the language. For example,
do managers use military terms, such
as “take no prisoners,” and “divide
and conquer”? Or do they speak about
“intuition,” “care,” and “our family
of customers”?
•
Ask different people the same questions
and compare their answers. You might
ask: how does this company define
success? For what are
employees most
rewarded? Who is
on the fast track
and what did they
do to get there?
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ENSURING CULTURAL FIT / 61
Sustaining culture
Managers are responsible for sustaining
organizational culture, by helping new
employees learn and adapt to it. A new
worker, for example, must be taught
what behaviors are valued and rewarded
by the organization, so that he or she
can learn the “system” and gradually
assume those behaviors that are
appropriate to their role.
CASE STUDY
KEEPING CULTURE
CONSISTENT
At coffee retailer Starbucks, all
employees go through a set of
formal classes during their first
few weeks on the job. They are
taught the history of the firm,
coffee-making techniques, and how
to explain Starbucks’s Italian drink
names to baffled customers,
and they are given coffee-tasting
classes. The firm’s socialization
program turns out employees who
are well versed in the company’s
culture and can represent
Starbucks’s obsession with
“elevating the coffee experience”
for its customers.
The better the match
between your personal
style as a manager and the
organization’s culture,
the more successful you
are likely to be
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