The key to a successful organization is to have a culture based on a strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs that are supported by strategy and structure. When an organization has a strong culture, three things happen:
Culture plays a vital role in an organization’s success. Therefore, HR leaders and other members of the HR team should have high-quality organizational characteristics. If you are a new HR manager then understanding and developing organizational culture is crucial for a company’s success.
HR leaders are responsible for ensuring that culture management is a core focus of their organization’s competitive efforts.
HR has been described as the “caretaker” of organizational culture. In carrying out this essential role, all members of the HR team should help build and manage a strong culture by:
- Being a role model for the organization’s beliefs.
- Reinforcing organizational values.
- Ensuring that organizational ethics are defined, understood and practiced.
- Enabling two-way communications and feedback channels.
- Defining roles, responsibilities and accountabilities.
- Providing continuous learning and training.
- Sustaining reward and recognition systems.
For HR leaders to influence culture, they need to work with senior management to identify what the organizational culture should look like. Strategic thinking and planning must extend beyond merely meeting business goals and focus more intently on an organization’s most valuable asset—its people.