Organizational culture

Organizational culture is generally understood as all of a company’s beliefs, values and attitudes, and
how these influence the behaviour of its employees.

Culture affects how people experience an organization—that is, what it’s like for a customer to buy from
a company or a supplier to work with it. It shows up in company policies such as dress code and office
hours. It also informs things such as workspace design and employee perks. Culture is usually set by a
company’s leaders.

Companies don’t tend to define their cultures explicitly; they tend to emerge from what people believe,
how they think, what they say and what they do. Culture shapes what behaviour is acceptable or
unacceptable. Culture may help define values and core principles that guide organizational behaviour.

More about organizational culture

In periods of organizational change, culture can either be a help or a hindrance. For example, an
organization with a culture of collaboration and adaptability may embrace change, while a less flexible,
more bureaucratic culture may not respond well to transformation. Leaders need to be aware of this
when guiding their organization through periods of change.

Efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility

The terms “efficiency,” “effectiveness” and “flexibility” are used to describe the way a company
operates in its markets. While they are often used together, and sometimes interchangeably, they each
mean different things:

 Efficiency refers to how well a company turns resources like time, people and money into
activities that serve the business. An efficient company generates a high volume of activity for
every unit of its resources.
 Effectiveness refers to the speed at which the company’s activities convert to business results.
An “effective” company achieves a good number of high-quality results from its activities and by
doing so meets the goals of its business plan.
 Flexibility is the speed at which a company adjusts to changing market conditions.

While companies often strive to be simultaneously efficient, effective and flexible, these goals actually
trade off against each other. The goal is to achieve the right mix. For example, a company might achieve
high efficiency by having well defined processes, but those processes may make the business less
flexible.

Many entrepreneurs worry about flexibility in particular. They don’t want to become too bureaucratic
(rules-bound and process-oriented) and often oversimplify their internal structures. In fact, there is such
a thing as “good bureaucracy” and the right amount of rules and processes can help achieve better
results.

Values

Values are what a company stands for—the beliefs that drive its organizational behaviour and the
characteristics it wants customers, partners and others to associate with it. They complement the
business goals of the company. In effect, they let everyone know how the company’s goals are to be
achieved, not as a set of procedures, but rather as a set of behavioural guidelines.

The values originate with the company’s owners and leaders and consist of doing the right things in the
right way.

Companies’ values can vary widely depending on the industry and the customers they serve, but often
relate to ideas of quality, reliability, honesty, innovation and service.

Values are usually defined on their own and accompany the vision and mission statements.
More about values

As an example, these are BDC’s values:

Ethics

We build solid relationships based on mutual trust. Our actions are guided by integrity and respect for
our clients, suppliers, partners and each other.

Client connection

We share our clients’ passion. We care about their success and support them every step of the way. Our
relationships are based on entrepreneurial thinking.

Team spirit

We are enriched by our diversity. We share our wide-ranging expertise to help our clients and the
organization grow. We respect each other’s differences and work together to succeed.

Accountability

We honour our commitment to help grow the Canadian economy. We take responsibility for our actions
in all our dealings both inside and outside BDC.

Work/life balance

We recognize that we all face unique challenges in fulfilling the responsibilities of our personal and
professional lives. We value a work environment that enables us to achieve a healthy balance.
Organisational Culture and Leadership in Early Childhood Education Organisations

Organisational culture is essential to the success of any business. In the early childhood education
sector, it is particularly important, as parents know that their children will benefit from a positive
culture. Often, we think of culture and leadership from an internal, human resources perspective, but
given the way it influences service provision, customers often take organisational culture into account
when selecting a business.

Culture affects employees – both positively and negatively, and when deciding what centre to choose
for their family, the most important factor influencing parents is the quality of educators, which means
focusing on organisational culture in childcare is the basis of being customer-centric.

Why Strong Workplace Culture is Important

For individual centres and small groups, achieving a positive culture by maintaining consistent and clear
two-way communication between staff and management can create a more inclusive workplace. In
smaller businesses, it’s easier to ensure every member of the team knows the business’ mission and
vision and is actively involved in reaching organisational goals. As educators feel involved, supported and
empowered, they are advocates for the business. Recently, CEO of Influence & Co John Hall discussed
the importance of employee support in an article for Forbes. He said that “employees who feel
supported by leaders are more likely to go above and beyond for the company and deliver a better
result.”

Once centres get culture right, they usually see their business grow, either through the development of
new units or acquisition of existing centres. As childcare groups expand, it is essential to maintain their
culture – as it is also part of their brand identity. A growing childcare group should have a strong enough
culture that no matter where one of their centres is located, parents recognise their brand and values
and know exactly what they stand for and what to expect. But once a group starts developing and
acquiring new centres, it can get much harder to maintain a cohesive organisational culture during the
expansion period.

How to Maintain Positive Workplace Culture in Times of Growth

When developing a new centre, it is vital to communicate the existing mission, vision, and code of
conduct effectively to new employees, who should be selected after going through a rigorous
recruitment process. Developing leaders, ensuring they fully understand and engage with the culture,
and are able to effectively implement it in the new unit is also absolutely crucial to success.

In order to sustain a positive culture as a business grows larger, it is important to be true to it – hire and
fire according to your philosophy, make sure the people who will be the face of your business are a good
fit for the organisation. Maintain intimacy by keeping an open-door policy and encourage and invest in
personal and professional growth among employees.

While expanding can be very challenging, doing so through the acquisition of an existing centre and
adapting their established culture to suit your business’ can seem insurmountable.

Existing negative workplace culture can be difficult to shift, but not impossible. Directors should ensure
they include key team members in decision making wherever possible, as it increases levels of trust,
motivation and dedication towards achieving the business goals for new management. Regular team
meetings allow client-facing employees to better understand the business and feel included and
accountable, which also works to strengthen the business culture.

Childcare groups experiencing a high growth phase need to pay special attention to organisational
culture, as it can be the difference between a new centre succeeding and strengthening their brand
image or suffering from low occupancy rates and damaging word of mouth. Reaching out to leadership
and culture specialists, like our team at Change2020 can prove to be a wise investment, as we help
leaders navigate through times of change and disruption. If your team needs help to embrace change to
propel your business forward,