The Future of Work and Organizational Culture

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50% of India leaders agree there is a need to plan for multiple possible futures around the workplace and workforce but cost pressure and the fear of setting a precedent holds them back from taking action. India leaders increasingly agree that the workplace – which in the past was for the people – has now evolved into a workspace of the people and that the future will entail further reimagining of the workforce and work model. The key findings of a PwC India’s People and culture first: Transformation journey in the future of work report underline the significance of a well-defined organizational culture.

Nearly 4,000 business and HR leaders across 26 territories and from organizations across diverse sectors participated in the global survey, the findings of which were released in February 2022. 210 leaders were from India. One of the key observations was that Culture promotes innovation. Innovation drives growth: The survey asked if we are valuing capability and culture to drive organizational performance and productivity? It's clear that a well-defined organizational culture holds the key for future success. Organizational Culture also plays a significant role in supporting business strategy.

Are you looking for consultation on the perfect Organizational Culture for your company?

Table of Contents

What is organizational culture

Organizational culture is the way in which people in an organization relate to each other, their work and the outside world, in comparison with other organizations. Your Organizational Culture shows how your organization works: how things get done, the interactions between people, and employee relationships to their work and the outside world. The best organizations often place equal emphasis on strategy and culture. Such organizations create a culture that motivates their teams. Organizational Culture is what differentiates your business, so it is important to know the various factors that contribute to your company’s culture.

Organic culture vs Active Culture

An organic approach means that management takes more of an observational approach to culture development so that culture develops naturally over time, or that the culture of the organization has not been considered at all. There are serious limitations and risks involved with the organic growth of your culture because it’s left to take its own direction – and this may not be aligned with your organization’s goals.

An active approach to Organizational Culture refers to organizations where the management takes the lead in proactively defining and implementing an optimal organizational culture. This can involve leading by example, training sessions, consultant guidance and more. It’s important to remember that while Organizational Culture manifests over time on its own, taking a more active approach will help you strategically design it. With proper guidance on your part, you can shape it to benefit your employees, adapt to the current business landscape, provide better customer service and stand out from competitors. The Culture Factor can work with you and help you actively design an optimal culture to support your business strategy, both in the short and long run.

Find out how The Culture Factor can help you implement a more active approach to your
organizational culture.

Case Study:

How The Culture Factor helped a merged Indian entity build a winning Corporate Culture

One of the biggest casualties in a merger of two large Corporate entities is Organizational culture. More often than not, it ends up being a case of the merged entity lacking a strong Corporate culture or even worse not being able to transfer the strengths or the core culture of the previous entities to the newly merged entity. So, is it possible to bring the best of both worlds and build a strong Corporate culture that can achieve aggressive business targets after a major merger? The Culture Factor India demonstrated that it can be done.

Background

The Culture Factor’ client in this case is an Indian insurance company. In its first avatar, this was an Indian insurance company formed by a joint venture between an Indian Business Conglomerate and an American Insurance major. The Indian partner then opted to sell all of its stake to another Indian Business Conglomerate. There were significant differences between both these Indian conglomerates that posed an interesting challenge:

Industry segments of their interests: Diversified interests in multiple sectors vs. many subsegments of a major sector
Degree of Involvement in the partnership: Active hands on vs. more hands off approach
Growth expectations: the new Indian partner expected aggressive growth from the Insurance company.

Key tasks for The Culture Factor

Independently analyse the core cultural identities of the merging entities – the new Indian conglomerate and the existing Insurance company Ensure best of the conglomerate’s values get inculcated in the merged entity; in effect a best of both worlds.
To build a strong and effective Corporate culture in the merged entity to achieve aggressive growth targets.

How The Culture Factor delivered on the client’s brief:

Key change elements in the strategy:

Leadership Approachability: The organization needed more structure in terms of information flow considering the nature of business
Focus on Leaders walking the talk: Senior leadership reflection at an individual and group level to align their behaviour to set the right culture pillars Focus on developing second level of
leadership and building a stronger more relevant employer brand

The results

A marked increase in Employee Engagement and this has reflected in Business growth which has been higher than the industry average.

The company has been able to attract and retain top talent with the values aligned to the Employer Brand

Winner, India’s Best Workplace in BFSI by Great Places To Work

The Culture Factor can help you build an effective and sustainable organizational culture.

Reach out to us to discuss the challenges faced by your organization and practical steps to align your Culture and Strategy.