Do you remember walking into your current employer’s workspace for the very first time or logging into your first teams/ zoom call if you are a remote worker, subconsciously you pick up on cues that give you an idea of what the organisation is all about, it almost as if it were a person, and you were describing its personality. 

Culture can be defined in various ways. Forbes defines workplace culture as: “The shared values, belief systems, attitudes, and the set of assumptions that people in a workplace share.” An implied definition of organisational culture could then be that it reflects the collective identity of everyone within the organisation. Some consistent aspects become core to the organisation and develop into stronger identities while others fade away with time as their relevance dips. Like people, organisational culture is also dynamic and ever evolving.

Many of us with longer tenures at an organisation can vouch for this, while the essence or core of the organisation (much like a person) remains unchanged, there are aspects that evolve basis experiences, history, context and where it is headed.  There is much to learn from this evolution which could also help predict what the organisational culture will evolve into in the future.

Communication

From top-down culture to bottom-up approach, and even hierarchy agnostic or cause-based flow of communication, organisational cultures can vary widely. Communication has seen a distinct evolution; it is also one of the core elements of organisation culture. Today, this culture increasingly values the equality of opinion and voice. Organisations have invested in frequent employee opinion surveys, calendarised management townhalls, created idea boards and so much more to ensure every voice is heard and more importantly responded to. 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

There was a time when "diversity" was often synonymous with gender, specifically women. Today, the understanding of diversity has broadened significantly. Organisations now focus on inclusivity and actively help employees address unconscious bias. The needle has moved considerably. 

‘Hire to Retire’ jobs to tours of duty:

Culture has evolved to employees viewing roles/assignments as short-term commitments focused on certain objectives. Once these objectives are completed, the move on to the next ‘tour of duty’ which could be another role in the same function or a different one depending on their interest. Employees are no longer motivated to stay in the same role / position till retirement. 

Flexibility

Work looks different for everyone today.  Some people work 5-6 days a week, some are working hybrid, some are 100% remote, and some are gig workers. This wasn’t the case a couple of years ago, where work meant being in office everyday for all roles. As family structures evolved, organisations brought in flexible work schedules to support employees. Covid accelerated this evolution. A flexible work culture is no longer a novelty, it is now a norm. 

Employee development

From 8-hour classroom modules to help build skill, organisations are evolving into models of anytime anywhere learning where employees have complete freedom to choose what they learn, where they learn and when. Culture has evolved to a point where the organisation is an enabler to learning and development of the employee. However, the steering wheel is in the employee’s control. 

Many of these changes are an outcome of changing external landscape like changing face of the workplace, pandemic, evolving MOOC platforms etc. This evolution is far from over with the advent of Artificial Intelligence and the growing adoption of automation, we are likely to see more disruptive changes to organisational culture. To ensure organisations continue to stay relevant, they must ensure that curiosity, agility, resilience and adaptability are at the core of their cultural DNA.