Defining Company Culture and Making It Happen

One of the cleverest employee pranks I have seen was a man who showed up on Halloween in a gorilla suit along with a doctored ID badge showing the picture of a gorilla and the name “King Kong.” He was waved through the front door by security, wandered about the building acting monkey-like, and nobody knew who he was until around Noon when he unmasked in the cafeteria to eat. Does anybody else see something wrong with this? The words “scary gorilla” comes to mind because it could have been anybody, even a curious outsider. We knew that it wasn’t the plant manager because he was a 6-foot 3-inch tall Kermit the Frog. Is this a fun culture or a dangerous place to work? Probably a little of both and that is the problem with trying to force a one-size-fits-all culture.

Borrowing from the Psychology and Society definition of Organizational Culture, “Organizational culture reflects the values, beliefs, and norms that characterize an organization as a whole.” This gives a very broad brush to paint culture in any organization, but the one thing that is critical in this definition is remembering those last three words… as a whole. A very conservative company allowing Halloween shenanigans is giving the more outgoing employees enough rope to hang themselves with management while possibly intimidating those who choose not to participate. A company intending to portray a young, fun loving and inclusive culture should probably have social mixer events every month. A critical eye to inclusiveness or exclusiveness will determine whether it is contributing to the desired culture or detracting from it.

• Participation in non-work related events must be voluntary – There are very few job descriptions that could by any stretch of the imagination include costume originality as a measure of performance. There could possibly be some correlation to the creativity in outside activities to on-the-job innovation, but the real measure of value added to the company is fulfilling the essential dimensions of the job. The question to be asked by employers and employees alike is how important are these events to career development. Retention of key talent is on the line and employee perception is an important element. Everyone needs to feel included and not coerced.
  
• Extracurricular activities must be inclusive – A listen-first, act-second manager will feel the pulse of the organization to insure that no employee can be perceived to be an outsider by refusing to participate. Rock climbing is not the track for developing management acumen if disabled employees do not get an equal chance. Ice skating, mountain climbing, or skiing social events can be great for an offsite fun time for all… as long as the over-55 arthritic knee crowd is invited to somehow participate without embarrassment. If the culture values diversity there will not be any form of discrimination in company sponsored events.
• Organizing events is NOT a Human Resources function – If management always looks to HR as the focal point for execution of the company picnic, the United Way campaign and off-site social events, they are showing a total lack of respect for this valuable resource. If you are in human resources and are faced with this situation, push back or polish up your resume and go elsewhere. If you accept less than professional assignments, you are not a professional and don’t have a right to complain about that “seat at the table.” Balance is essential for professionalism, so there is always the need to walk the line between displaying personal knowledge while displaying professional wisdom.

Keeping a finger on the pulse of the organization is necessary to balance the importance of company culture with the needs of employees. This is not always a direct function of the HR Department, but HR professionals cannot ignore the implications. For all the values of hiring and maintaining talent that are a cultural fit, there is also an equal danger of hiring “people like me” which is the opposite of diversity. A good message is that neither the appearance nor the actions of employees define the culture. Neither clones nor clowns make a successful culture.

Image credit: GorillaMask  rtimages / 123RF Stock Photo