Do you believe that culture can be game changer when it comes to building a company of highly talented knowledge experts? We do, very strongly. We are talking about the culture that persists during good, bad, and tough times. This culture determines the core of an organization. The culture we are talking about is not something that can be invented, neither can it be transformed overnight. It is totally a top down, committed, continuous, time taking effort that helps eradicate organizational barriers. The impact of healthy organizational culture across the globe was realised way back, however it was often treated as the least priority item on the checklist. Things are changing, it is the leader who is bringing about and spreading the word top down, helping organizations sew culture and employees together. Remember, organizational culture can be your largest strength or greatest liability.
Organization Culture at Princeton Blue
At Princeton Blue, we treat culture as the core of our organizational strategy, and are proud of the outcome. The key to our culture has been ‘Communication’, clear, precise, transparent communication across levels. Casual, formal, consistent communication, at first helped clear inhibitions, pre conceived notions, and stimulated healthy relationship at work. This undoubtedly required continuous intervention by leadership, that later turned into a regular affair, as our employees started to enjoy and adopt it. Today, people can walk up anytime and speak their mind, both good and bad. This helps us keep a tab on potential risks, as well as our strengths. It works both ways, the employees on the other hand have enough information on the organization, potential business changes, upcoming events, etc.
Respecting ones individuality comes naturally in our culture, we give enough and more opportunity to our employees to express their view point and be an integral part, as we strongly believe that each one has distinct and unique qualities that can be appreciated. Irrespective of the level/title/designation, each and every employee has his/her own identity in the organization and a voice to the Senior Leadership. We believe in treating our employees as valuable Capital rather than resources. No wonder, what is traditionally referred to as “Human Resources” function, is rather called “Human Capital” in Princeton Blue.
Another game changer for us has been ‘Teamwork’. While individual efforts are appreciated and highlighted, there is huge emphasis on teamwork. This helps us in promoting collective efforts, which in turn builds team spirit. It has been quite seen that the sense of achievement in team work is more organizational driven, than in individual contribution. Needless to say, teamwork has helped us generate more quality driven ideas during contingency and general brainstorming situations.
We completely believe in the thought – lesser the hierarchy, better the employee empowerment. Implementation of this has helped us bring in huge sense of security in our employees. They feel respected, and appreciated. Hierarchy driven organizations tend to waste a lot of time in decision making and sorting ego clashes, plus their employees tend to feel lost, and less important. It is obviously important to maintain the discipline line, however too many grades and permission levels can spoil the game.
Another important aspect of healthy culture is rewards and recognition. It is almost critical to recognise and appreciate successful delivery, and efforts of even an unsuccessful or less successful delivery. That turns out to be the driver for the next attempt. Not every action can derive a specific reward, which is normal. What is important is to highlight one’s time and effort, and appreciate it with a thumbs up!
One more important facets in having a good organization culture is the Flexibility. It has not only been an important tool for retaining talent in the organization, but has played a critical hand in attracting talent. Flexibility at work offers a comfort work zone to employees, and productivity runs unhampered. The key is to emphasize on a result driven approach, rather than a rigid unfriendly one. Offering flexibility and work life balance is the key to happy and loyal employees. Needless to say, this flexibility comes with equal responsibility for the Employees.
We cannot say it any better – Culture can make a company different from the others, and that is why we are different! We have created a substantial differentiation in a swarming world of organizations. Read more about our work and Organization Culture.