Understanding Organizational Culture
September 12, 2024 – Culture is a complex construct and, as you’d expect, measuring it is equally as complex. The best approach to understanding a company’s culture is by taking a holistic measurement approach, according to Jeffrey Hanrahan, Ph.D, director of organizational optimization, TI Verbatim Consulting, a culture assessment and DEI-oriented consulting firm. “This includes a combination of survey data to capture employee perceptions of company norms, as well as qualitative data in the form of focus groups and interviews,” he said. “The qualitative data provides additional insights that just can’t be captured in a survey format.”
“Culture is a mix of what people say it is and what they actually experience,” Dr. Hanrahan said. “The key is to measure both the values and behaviors the organization promotes, as well as how people experience those values and behaviors. By doing so, you get a holistic and nuanced view of an organization’s culture.”
Dr. Hanrahan explains the differences between culture and climate. “Culture and climate represent two interconnected, yet distinct aspects of the workplace environment,” said Dr. Hanrahan. “There are several differences between the two constructs but I’ll focus on the main differences here. Culture refers to the deeply embedded values, beliefs, and behavioral norms that are shared among employees and that the organization promotes. These values, beliefs, and norms set behavioral expectations for an organization’s employees. Culture is deeply engrained in an organization and takes a long time to change. Climate, on the other hand, is typically thought of as the collective perceptions of the work environment, based on the day-to-day experiences of the workforce. It is more surface-level, can change quickly, and is usually easier to measure and modify when compared to culture.”
“I mentioned a timeframe with culture and climate, which is another major distinction between the two,” Dr. Hanrahan says. “Culture is long-term, more enduring, and deeply rooted in the history of the organization. This is because it develops over a long period of time and tends to persist unless there is a deliberate effort to change it. Whereas climate is more immediate and can change much more quickly in an organizational environment. It can change rapidly in response to changes in leadership, new organizational policies, or major organizational events. This means that climate may change from day-to-day or quarter-to-quarter.”
A Company’s DNA
Dr. Hanrahan also notes that there are several more differences between these two constructs but essentially, culture is what makes up an organization, it’s DNA so-to-speak. “Culture shapes the long-term behaviors that can be seen within an organization as well as the identity and values of the company,” he said. “Culture can be thought of as a company’s DNA, climate can be considered the weather of the organization. That is to say climate reflects how people currently feel and perceive their workplace environment in the short term. While culture drives who the organization is, climate describes what it feels like to work there, and both are critical for understanding and improving organizational effectiveness.”
Jeffrey Hanrahan is a distinguished researcher and expert in industrial/organizational psychology, with experience in analyzing workgroup dynamics and enhancing organizational effectiveness. His career spans roles as a research psychologist with the U.S. Army Research Institute, a senior data analyst at Walmart Inc., and an organizational consultant through his own firm. Dr. Hanrahan has demonstrated a profound ability to lead high-performing teams, develop innovative methodologies for assessing performance, and implement data-driven strategies to improve organizational resilience and effectiveness.
Senior leaders play a crucial role in shaping both the culture and climate of their organization, according to Dr. Hanrahan. “Their behaviors, decisions, and communication styles set the tone for what is valued, how employees are expected to behave, and how the work environment feels,” he says. “Senior leaders are the primary architects of an organization’s culture and define the values, beliefs, and norms that guide behavior across the company. They also directly influence the current workplace climate by reinforcing cultural values through communication and decision-making.”
Related: How to Implement a Positive Corporate Culture
While culture is shaped by senior leaders’ long-term strategic vision, Dr. Hanrahan explains that climate is affected by their day-to-day behavior and decisions. He notes that by modeling values, making consistent and informed decisions, empowering their managers, and fostering trust within the organization, senior leaders are able to create a strong culture and a positive climate that aligns organizational goals with employee well-being.
Impact on Employee Retention
Dr. Hanrahan also shares that the culture and climate of a company has a significant impact on employee retention by shaping the long-term engagement of employees and the day-to-day job satisfaction. “Both are critical for employee retention but operate on different levels,” he said. “Culture influences long-term loyalty by shaping employee’s sense of commitment, alignment with values, and belonging. Climate directly affects short-term satisfaction, engagement, and well-being. An organization that aligns its culture with a supportive, positive climate is more likely to retain its employees over the long-term, whereas any misalignment between culture and climate might lead to dissatisfaction among employees and higher turnover rates.”
Turning Around a Poor Culture
There are multiple ways an organization can turn around their poor culture or climate, but I’ll focus on two impactful strategies here, Dr. Hanrahan explains. “The first is by focusing on leadership commitment and accountability,” he says. “Transformation starts at the top. Senior leaders must model the desired behaviors and values, as well as commit to a cultural change through consistent communication and actions that reflect the new expected norms. Their behavior set the tone for the rest of the organization. Along with modeling the expected norms, leaders need to be approachable and actively engage with their employees. This fosters an atmosphere of support and trust. Regularly addressing concerns and ensuring open communication helps to improve the day-to-day work climate.”
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Second, Dr. Hanrahan notes that redefining values and behavioral expectations will go a long way in turning around poor climate or culture. For a cultural change, he says to redefine core values to make them more clear, actionable, and aligned with the desired behaviors within the workplace. “Involving employees in this process helps to make the new values part of everyday operations with the added benefit of ensuring buy-in,” Dr. Hanrahan said. “For climate improvement, organizations would benefit from setting and enforcing clear behavioral expectations at all levels. Managers should consistently reinforce positive behaviors that contribute to a supportive workplace, leading to improved interpersonal dynamics and employee morale.”
Fitting Into Your Culture
Ensuring that you hire employees who fit into your organization’s culture is important for maintaining and strengthening culture over time, according to Dr. Hanrahan. There are several useful strategies that will help organizations attract and retain the right people. The first is to clearly define and communicate your culture. “This should be done through promotional materials on a website, social media, or other branding efforts,” he said. “Additionally, it is important to ensure job postings and descriptions reflect the organization’s core values and cultural aspects, helping to attract candidates who resonate with those values.”
“The use of structed interview questions that align with an organization’s cultural values is another strategy,” Dr. Hanrahan said. “If collaboration is a key component of the organizational culture, ask candidates to describe situations where they worked successfully in teams, or how they handled conflict within a group. It is also important to evaluate how a candidate’s values align with the organization’s culture. This can be done by asking interview questions that reveal how a candidate would respond in a certain situation involving teamwork, leadership, risk-taking, or innovation, depending on what your organizational culture prioritizes.”
Lastly, including people from different parts of the organization in the interview process gives multiple perspectives on whether the potential candidate aligns with the company’s culture, Dr. Hanrahan notes. “By clearly defining the organization’s culture, using structured interview questions that assess cultural alignment, and by involving multiple interviewers, an organization can improve the changes of hiring people who not only fit but thrive within the organization,” he said.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
