Managing Organisational culture through communication PDF Print E-mail

By Felicity Zadro

If you held up a large lens that allowed you to look at your company’s organisational culture, what would you find? What would your colleagues’ behaviour, language and expectations say about your organisational culture? And if you found something you wanted to change, how you would go about it?

Culture is a word banted around in many circles; biology and the arts to name only two. However when we talk about culture in an anthropological way, we are talking about a concept that is so powerful, so important to our lives and so often taken for granted.

Culture is how we make sense of our lives. It is a complex phenomenon that is heterogeneous, flexible and continually changing. Just as individuals and the broader systems in which we live are dynamic, constantly evolving and adapting to surrounding conditions, so does culture. Culture affects adaption to surroundings and is in turn affected by that change. Activities and symbols that reflect and celebrate culture also work to sustain it.

 When we apply the concept of culture to the places in which we work we can say that organisational culture is a pattern of basic assumptions which define how members should perceive, think and feel about problems. These assumptions have been invented, discovered and developed by the group through their experiences and therefore the group sees them as valid i.e. they work. Significantly, the group teaches these assumptions to new members and hence the culture continues.

The organisational culture of any company will determine how it reacts to new situations, learns from mistakes, perceives events as opportunities or threats and whether it is proactive or reactive. In an increasingly competitive environment a business needs a defined and strong culture that enables it to grow through adaption and innovation whilst maintaining a core sense of itself and importantly sound ways to communicate the culture internally and externally.

Understanding the organisational culture that is alive and well in your work place can be done in many ways. However a three tiered model will be explored here. It involves stripping away layers to reveal the core motivation of the culture. It is important to note that each layer is crucial to creating the overall picture for only by understanding each layer will we be able to work to maintain or change it.

The first layer – the artefacts – is the material or non-material objects and patterns that intentionally or unintentionally communicate information about an organisation. The material objects include the logo and tag line, documents such as newsletters, annual reports, internal memos, brochures and other promotional collateral, organisational structure etc. The non-material objects include language, jargon, the stories told and retold, how people socialise, joke with each other, the office layout etc. An observation of these aspects is important but their significance is only revealed when we dig a little deeper.

The second layer - the beliefs and values – or the rational and emotional motivation for what people do and why they do them is getting closer to the heart of understanding organisational culture.  Investigating at this level reveals how people communicate, explain and rationalise what they say and do as an organisation because their beliefs and values provide justification.  For example, if a bank believes they have a responsibility to support female customers to achieve their financial goals, this will be reflected in women specific programs and the policies they write. If an airline believes it is up to passengers to offset their carbon emissions rather than them this will be reflected in their green polices. If a corporate believes they have a responsibility to their community, this will lead to greater corporate social responsibility practices.

The aspects of an organisation that can be seen here are the company ethos, philosophy, ethical and moral codes and attitudes. An organisation’s beliefs and values will also affect how the artefacts discussed above will be interpreted and communicated.

From these two layers it is sometimes possible to see a divide between the values espoused and the values held. For example; promotional information of a telecommunications company might espouse the importance they place on the customer’s experience, however, the company believes that as the largest in their field people will have to use them regardless.

The third layer – basic underlying assumptions – are the beliefs, values and perceptions that are taken for granted. They are the implicit assumptions that actually guide behaviour, that tell members how to perceive, think about and feel about things. This layer reveals the ‘truths’ the things so they have dropped out of awareness and are unconsciously taught through language, the use of stories, metaphors and by modelled behaviour.  Basic assumptions might include notions that the company will never go out of business, hierarchical relationships based on tertiary qualifications, loyalty is valued over performance, the appropriate age, sex or ethnic background of a Director.

An experienced Communications Manager will be able to guide an organisation through a process of cultural discovery. The process can involve various methodologies such as observations, in-depth interviews with managers and staff, all staff survey in which aspects of the company are rated by importance and by working side by side with employees to see how things are done. Often the company has identified behavioural issues amongst staff that require investigation, so these areas will become the starting point.

Once a company is satisfied they understand their organisational culture, they need to set in place an organisational culture change management programme.  What is central to the programme is communication because communication is the tool through which change occurs.

As culture is invented and sustained through assumptions, beliefs, values, material and non-material objects, a programme of managing organisational culture involves looking at what of the above needs to changed,  what needs to be strengthened and then devising a plan on how to act upon it.

Firstly, basic assumptions; if these need to be altered then we have to change the stories that are told about the company internally and externally. There is no greater source of influence in an organisation than the leaders’ communication – both verbal and non-verbal. The CEO’s, Directors and Senior Managers need to have the same understanding of the company’s assumptions and work together on the messages that they give. Internal newsletters, blogs, department meetings, media releases and public presentations by the leaders need to be consistent in their messaging both in language and behaviour.

When the basic assumptions are seen to be filtering through to the staff group, examples of it need to be highlighted and championed in the appropriate fashion i.e. staff awards, presentations at staff social gatherings, profiles in newsletters etc.

The core values of the organisation need to be first articulated. This can result from a strategic planning day, staff surveys, focus groups, discussions with staff etc. Actually, the more staff are consulted during the discerning of company values the better. The articulated values then need to be communicated widely and activated. For example, if one of your company values is excellence in customer service then staff need to know what is considered ‘excellent’ and how they will be acknowledged and rewarded for doing their job in that way. This may include providing customer service training, customer satisfaction surveys, incentives for growing a client over a 12 month period, monetary rewards for good client feedback etc.

The beliefs that shape behaviour also need to be addressed. The results of the staff survey need to be published and responded to honestly and openly by the management. For example, if one of the existing beliefs of the company is that green issues aren’t important and the company wants to change this, the leaders need to talk to staff about the why the issue is so important, the commercial advantages it will bring and how everyone has an important role to play.

The material and non-material objects need to be systemically changed and adapted to reflect the desired organisational culture. If your company is about being creative, then the office environment needs to reflect this. The website, business cards, logo and tagline - all your external communication products, need to reflect the culture you desire.

It is important to note that the consistency of your communication – internal and external, verbal and non-verbal, unconscious and conscious is vital. The CEO’s tone of voice is more powerful in communicating the value placed on respect in the workplace than a one page memo to all staff. The way people a manager talks about a client at the pub on a Friday is more influential than publishing customer service values in a staff newsletter.

Managing organisational culture is not easy or instant or something you do once. It is a constant process of change and development, and the best investment you will ever make to your company. This is because an organisational culture will determine how the company deals with change and competition, growth and down turns, how it will maintain staff loyalty and orientate new staff. 

Communication is the key to managing organisational culture for it is the medium of change and the pacifier to the anxiety of change, the way we know we need to change and the way we know we have.
 

Felicity Zadro is the Director of Zadro Communications. Felicity specialises in organisation change and strategic communication management. For more information visit Internal Communications and Culture Management.

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