Is Corporate Culture Slowing Productivity?

Whether you call it workplace, organisational, or corporate culture, it all means the same thing arguably.

Simply put, corporate culture evolves in three aspects: values, norms, and routines. Corporate culture can

be defined as the means by which a company defines and applies behavioural expectations and

interactions amongst its human capital.

Traditionally, corporate culture has been skewed toward corporate executives setting the tone on the

functional practices within a company intended to result in improved efficiency and high levels of

productivity in the workplace. Productivity from this time as a concept would be measured against strict

KPIs, and clearly defined outputs that measured the quality of work against an allocated time slot for it. At

all costs, in this traditional framing of what “productivity” constitutes, the absolute bottom line was

ensuring as much possible work output from the company workforce - at all costs.

Corporate culture can be understood as the values and set of principles that an organisation designs and

implements. It is the mantra and style that sets the tone for relationships within a team. Corporate culture

reflects the attitude and approach of management (in most cases, the co-founders, and directors, who by

nature are the shareholders and executives). In essence, this sets the tone of how and what the working

environment looks, feels, or operates.

Fast-forward to the present day, and one will quickly find that these two concepts - productivity and

corporate culture will be interpreted, understood, planned for, and applied differently across various

sectors and companies globally over the past 20 - 30 years. Corporate culture can trigger an emotional

environment, as interpersonal relations, are at the core of the reason for existence of the company.

Is corporate culture a thorn in the side of productivity in the workplace? Is corporate culture slowing

productivity today or negatively impacting how employees interact and produce their work? It can go both

ways. Corporate culture will vary amongst organisations. The corporate culture at a manufacturing plant

or within a governmental department will significantly differ from the corporate culture that may exist in a

tertiary institution or at a tech start-up. Yet, all organisations will need to ensure that there is a culture that

facilitates optimum productivity as well as employee physical, spiritual, mental and intellectual wellness,

and well-being. Perhaps it is trying to maintain this equilibrium that is most effective and challenging.

The contention here is this: unintentional corporate culture can slow productivity - and can go as far as

bring it to a halt - but ultimately, if an organisation designs a culture, speaks to its core values, represents

the ethos and mission of the company, but most importantly, it facilitates a working environment that

makes employees feel empowered to perform to their optimum potential - then corporate culture can do

the exact opposite - it can greatly boost productivity in the workplace. It is largely dependent on the

organisation in question, what style of corporate culture exists, and how the culture is implemented. In

large part, the company’s ethos, and values should form part of the culture, enabling a working

environment that ensures psychological safety, autonomy, expression, and a strong sense of inclusion

and unity toward a common purpose. The corporate culture within an organisation, if thought about

properly, can be transformative.

An organisation that designs a culture that fits well for all working in it will yield consistently high levels of

productivity whilst ensuring optimum levels of employee satisfaction and well-being simultaneously.

Fortune Magazine published a list detailing the 25 Best Global Companies to Work For, with technology

giant Google taking the number 1 spot on the Fortune magazine list, with over 2,000 multinational

corporations participating in the process. Beyond the great perks, Google’s number one ranking can be

attributed to a culture largely defined by caring relationships, employee autonomy and a conviction by

staff that they are part of a mission that “is making history”. A high level of employee buy-in and an

environment that fosters employee autonomy is part of Google culture and what makes it work.

Corporate culture can also hinder productivity if early warning signs and red flags are ignored and go

unaddressed. What is clear is the following: if corporate culture is not prioritised, if company relational

dynamics are not adequately addressed, or if there is misalignment, misinterpretation or

misunderstanding about company culture, the consequences can be fatal.

Extending this further, other dynamics at play that could hamper corporate culture - such as

micromanagement, toxic working dynamics and relationships and a culture of fear. Repercussions from

this usually include employee burnout, high levels of absenteeism, and health and mental breakdowns, all occurrences that affect human capital. In this scenario, management will typically prioritise output

at all costs, overworking and overloading employees with an unrealistic workload and tight deadlines to

meet.

Admittedly, corporate culture can slow productivity. Consequently, what is absolute is that fostering a

culture that empowers employees and enables a comfortable and empowering work environment can

have a huge impact on productivity.

Therefore, emphasising Dr Elliot Jacques notion that ‘organisations can no longer be justified solely in

terms of productivity, or profits; rather, new emphases can be placed on their effects on the total human

experience; emphasis on the quality of working life and, finally, the role of the workplace as a kind of

substitute for other forms of affiliation such as families and communities’ (Ouchi and Jaeger, 1978) is

paramount.

Written by: Sandile Tshabalala - Co-Founder Huruma Bantfu

Website: hurumabantfu.com