Corporate Culture - Ambience or Impact

The phrase "Corporate Culture" has the ring of a buzz word. Over used and subjectively understood, it became an identifiable term in the 1980's and assumed it's role as a box any self-respecting company would want to check in the 1990's. Investopedia describes it this way: Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company's employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. They go on to say, Often, corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people the company hires.

Makes sense, but does it really matter that my company has been awarded the Success Magazine CultureIQ award a multiple of times? The answer seems to be a resounding "Yes." An article by, Ron Friedman, Ph. D, published in Fast Company offers a strong position for wanting this kinds of acknowledgement.

Referred to as "Motivational Synchronicity," this very human trait has dramatic impact on our professional surroundings and relationships. "Within our studies, all it took for motivation to spread between people was 5 minutes of exposure." (extreme emphasis mine) A hire on either end of the spectrum can emphatically influence the company's likelihood of success, and ultimately our success.

It seems ironic, the job seeker is generally more interested in compensation and title rather than the company culture. That is until they are inside the company "..corporate culture can make the difference in performance, innovation, and employee development and retention." Reading an article from Emergenetics International, I found this to be interesting and true. When describing corporate culture, It’s hard to define and even harder to get right. No amount of modern furnishings, stocked kitchens, happy hours, or young, hip workers can create a corporate culture.

With all that said, my research has also lead me to the correlation between Symmetry Financial Group and an outstanding corporate culture. Harvard Business Review, covers it succinctly. Vision, Values, Practices, People, Narrative, and Place. And having worked in cultures which left much to be desired, I have found an exceptional one - by their design.

My vote is Impact. You?