A leader’s look at corporate culture–5 questions to ask yourself

In a new Core Beliefs and Culture survey, consulting firm Deloitte looks at the impact that corporate culture has on employee ratings of happiness and perceived self-value at work.  The results provide a good reminder for leaders on the relative importance of words and actions when it comes to creating a strong culture that engages people and leads to better financial performance.

Here are the five questions that Deloitte asked a random sample of 1,000 U. S. residents aged 18 years or older who are employed full time in a company with 100 employees or more.

How would you score your company in these five areas?

Figure 1: Adapted from Deloitte Core Beliefs and Culture survey

Now consider the relative impact that your answers have on your subsequent happiness and sense of being valued at work.  What is the connection for you?  Here is what the people that Deloitte surveyed had to say:

Figure 2: Adapted from Deloitte Core Beliefs and Culture survey

Key Takeaways: 

1. Don’t leave culture to chance.  You have an opportunity to create a distinct and purposeful culture.  Think about the values that you want to guide your organization.  Consider what those values would look like if they were a common practice in your organization.  What would people be doing and saying?  How would they be acting?
2. Keep it simple.  Don’t get caught up in the “word-smithing” of the culture statement.  It’s important to get a clear picture of what you want in mind, but make sure to take the second step of simplifying the message into a key theme that people can remember.
3. Act on it.  There is a huge difference in the impact that comes from living the values as opposed to just talking about them.  In the table above, check out the difference that leaders practicing the values has over leaders discussing the values.

Actions do speak louder than words–especially when it comes to employees feeling happy and valued at work.  To see more about the Deloitte research, be sure to check out the executive summary of the Core Beliefs and Culture study.