An employee’s perception of their organisation directly influences their motivation and, therefore, their performance in their daily tasks. If an employee sees that there are opportunities for professional growth within the company, they will feel more motivated when facing challenges that arise.
Find out how Organisational Culture influences employee behaviour.
It is true that there is much to be done in terms of organisational design in order to motivate employees; however, leaders play an even more important role: they set the example and chart the course to follow. Rapport between leaders and employees is very important in an organisation, reason why if there is one thing that organisational culture must take into account, it’s the desired leadership style.
In this sense, in order to establish the ideal behaviour and values within the organisation, we must consider what is expected from the work environment, what internal processes will look like, what communication will look like, how problems will be resolved and/or how decisions will be made. These are key aspects when identifying team leaders; from that point on, the leader’s job must focus first and foremost on developing their team members, while also encouraging continual feedback from peers and/or superiors.
How do leaders see it?
According to a survey which included 120 global leaders in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru) conducted by Spencer Stuart, a leadership consulting firm:
- 93% of directors believe that there is a clear relationship between culture and strategy, and the majority see their organisation’s culture as an asset
- 95% see the culture at their organisation as a source of competitive advantage
- 82% describe the culture at their company as a high performance culture
- 79% believe that they effectively manage and develop their organisational culture
- 88% assure that there is a clear relationship between culture and strategy at their organisation
This study shows that, when we analyse how culture affects results, in some way or another we are taking into account the performance of leaders and their strategies. Thus, more than paying attention to actions, it is important to focus our attention on the intent behind them, since they set the standard for how things are done, the way we communicate, and how objectives are achieved.
