Every organization has a soul. If it’s empty or diseased, all the communication in the world can’t fix it.
Does your company have a soul? Pardon the momentary foray into a subject that sounds more spiritual than commercial, but I’ve been thinking a lot about what lies at the core of many businesses.
Workers today can be excused for the cynical view that nothing but emptiness exists in their companies’ souls. A friend and former co-worker last week was laid off from a job she loved with a company she respected. Although understandably shaken, she ultimately feels it was best since, as she said, “it’s just not the same company it used to be.”
My friend was referring to the company’s culture, a concept that gained a lot of attention beginning in the 1980s when businesses drastically changed their management styles in response to increased global competition and growth. Think of the breakup of AT&T as an iconic starting point for the attention given to company culture.
A consulting assignment for a major technology services firm got me to thinking about company culture last week. I re-read parts of a book called Culture.com: Building Corporate Culture in the Connected Workplace by Peg Neuhauser, Ray Bender and Kirk Stromberg. The book is five years old but still relevant. The authors define culture as:
- · The way we do things around here (like “the IBM way”)
- · The personality of the organization
- · What people do when no one is watching
- · Walking the talk – saying what matters and then doing it consistently
I like those definitions, but I believe company culture goes even deeper in today’s business environment. A recent discussion on IABC Café, the web log of Warren Bickford, chairman of the International Association of Business Communicators, convinced me that there is more to company culture than the organization’s personality. Bickford calls it “organizational persona” and here is how he defines it for his audience of communication professionals: “Most professional communicators are intimately involved in the traditional concepts of reputation management and branding – concepts used to generally place organizations and corporations into big boxes of understanding. Organizational persona encompasses those concepts but I think goes much, much further. To me, the concept speaks to issues of transparency, accountability, disclosure, trust, integrity, good governance, social responsibility and high ethical standards.”
I like to call it the soul of the company. And the soul – or the organization’s persona, or its culture, or whatever you please – is what it is. There is no spinning it, covering it up or denying it. The outward manifestation of the company’s soul might be changed just as people can change behaviors and attitudes. But for better or worse, the company’s soul has certain inborn traits.
What does this have to do with communication? As I told my client, business leaders can and should communicate with employees about their vision for the company’s culture (persona, soul, etc.). Executives should lead employees to embody the company’s values and to exhibit desired behaviors. But if the company’s soul is empty or diseased, no amount of communication can cover it up or make it look better.
Sometimes, a company’s soul needs to be cleansed before business leaders hang it out for employees and the world to see.
