How to Bring the Soul of Your Organization to Life
Deep within every organization lies an invisible yet potent force: its culture. It’s the heart, the soul, and the pulse that permeates daily work life and shapes people’s behaviors. Yet all too often, this culture remains hidden, fading into mere shadows on corporate mission statements. But today, we aim to change that. Because it’s time to recognize the importance of a vibrant culture within organizations and actively bring it to life. Here’s how you can strengthen your company’s culture and why doing so makes your organization more resilient in times of crisis.
But what does this mean concretely?
Culture in organizations encompasses shared values, norms, and beliefs that influence people’s behavior and interaction within the organization. A positive culture creates an environment where people are motivated to give their best and see changes as opportunities. These values and beliefs are embedded in each individual, guiding both individual and collective actions even in challenging times. When it comes to solidifying these beliefs and values, employees at all levels are actively engaged. When it comes to translating them into organizational behavior, a key role is played by a focus on learning and innovation, teamwork, and trust.
Contextualization: Creating Culture as Part of Resilient Organizations
“Creating culture” is one of the nine factors in the persolog® Organisational Resilience Model. Based on the international standard ISO 22316, it offers a comprehensive method for promoting resilience in organizations. These nine factors strengthen the resilience of employees and companies:
- Living vision and goals
- Strengthening market relationships
- Empowering leadership
- Creating culture
- Sharing knowledge
- Ensuring resources
- Interdisciplinary cooperation
- Continuous improvement
- Proactive change
Each of these factors is important and contributes to building resilience in organizations. In this article, we particularly focus on the factor of “creating culture.”
These 5 Facets Are Needed to Shape Organizational Culture
The factor of “creating culture” consists of 5 facets. You can visualize how strongly these facets are lived within an organization using the Resilience Organization Model.
Shared values are motivating
They create a strong sense of belonging and purpose by aligning employees toward a common goal and fostering a shared identity. They provide guidance, strengthen trust, and simultaneously create a positive work culture where each individual can unleash their full potential.
Fostering innovation capability
The ability to innovate is crucial to adapting to changing markets and customer needs. By fostering innovation, companies can remain competitive, develop new products and services, and introduce more efficient processes, ultimately leading to growth and long-term success.
Mutual appreciation is given
It enables a positive work atmosphere where employees feel valued and respected. By recognizing achievements and appreciating individual contributions, employee engagement and motivation are increased, leading to enhanced productivity and loyalty to the company. Moreover, mutual appreciation promotes open communication and collaboration, contributing to a harmonious and effective work environment.
Challenges are seen as opportunities
It’s important to view challenges as opportunities as they allow us to surpass ourselves and develop new skills. By seeing challenges as opportunities rather than being discouraged by them, we can find creative solutions and experience personal growth. Additionally, the perspective of challenges as opportunities fosters agile and solution-oriented thinking, helping us successfully deal with changes and uncertainties.
There’s an open culture of embracing mistakes
A positive error culture involves seeing mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve. It creates an environment where people can openly discuss their mistakes and share their experiences without fear of consequences. A positive error culture promotes trust, openness, and willingness to learn and can help your organization better respond to changes.
(Recommended reading: How to achieve a positive error culture in your company, you can find in this blog post by the Leaders Academy.)
If you want to discover how resilient your organization already is and how you can further strengthen its resources, the persolog® Organisational Resilience Profile provides valuable support. It gives insights into where your organization currently stands in terms of resilience and suggests how these resources can be selectively promoted. Let’s embark on the journey to an even more resilient and successful future together!
