Company culture is a critical consideration, and it is in large part up to HR to help build this aspect of the business and ensure that it continues to grow in the right direction.
What exactly does this mean? As the Harvard Business Review notes, culture can influence leadership styles. Not only can this come into play during everyday operations, but it has been shown to have an impact during a merger or acquisition. For companies considering one of these moves as part of a longer-term strategy, culture is certainly worth considering.
In fact the Harvard Business Review reported that merging companies with similar leadership styles experienced a higher level of success. The publication also noted that culture is not necessarily a fixed attribute, and can be positively influenced.
“It is possible to change a company’s culture—or at least to prod it a bit in one direction or another. That is best achieved by continually hiring people who represent the direction in which you are headed,” write Thomas Kell and Gregory Carrott.
With employee engagement a top concern for many businesses today, HR departments may be wondering what can be done to improve company culture. One strategy to try is injecting humor into otherwise unremarkable materials such as presentations and HR emails, where appropriate.
If you are trying to cultivate a fun culture, be sure to encourage it and make employees aware of this attitude. This way, they will know the boundaries of what is acceptable while having more freedom to have a good time on the job.
When trying out different company culture initiatives and tracking performance, HR practitioners can turn to HR software as a comprehensive system of managing information.