Organisational culture is crucial in multiple ways including:

• Boosting and supporting employee morale

• Work productivity

• Helping work-life balance

• Talent acquisition and retention

• Overall organisational performance

And unlike statistics, figures, and numbers, organisational culture is intangible! Most of the time, organisation culture is perceived through the way senior management / team leaders conduct their work lives. But it is also imparted through shared values, beliefs, norms, attitudes, and behaviours. Culture is indeed the ‘personality’ of the organisation.

What conveys culture?
Written policies, internal communication, codes of conduct – these are a few ways in which a company can publicise its culture. Regardless of the method of communication, it should talk about important aspects of culture because understanding and managing organisational culture is essential for creating a healthy, and successful work environment. Culture has been around for a long time indeed! Elliott Jaques is one of the names associated with the history of the concept of organisational culture.

It is also interesting to see how every country has its own philosophy of organisational culture. For instance, Japanese management culture is driven by ‘hourensou’ or collaboration. German businesses value planning, and punctuality more than almost anything else. Indian companies believe in and build on family-like connections within the company. Take Texmo Industries, for instance. At the heart of our culture is the fact that we are a family-run business and put people before profits.

Interestingly, culture is also fluid – aspects of it can, and should change with time. While core values will always be the bedrock of a company’s culture, the passage of time does bring about changes in corporate culture. And the trick to longevity is to navigate these changes even while being anchored in a legacy of values.

Future of corporate culture
A few experts are calling it Company Culture 2.0 and almost all of them agree on the following aspects being few of the salient features of the future of culture:

• Equality, diversity, inclusivity

• Mindfulness

• Focus on EX or employee experience

• CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility

• More collaboration

• Demonstrating more purposefulness

• Flexible structures of company hierarchy

Perhaps the most important principle, if one can call it that, is flexibility and change. Today's workspace consists of different generations. While millennials may be driving the pace of change, it is also true that the workplace will consist of Baby Boomers, Gen Z, and every other generation in between. There are certain cultural values that appeal to millennials but may not be held as important by other generations and vice versa. Therefore, it is important to stay flexible while communicating corporate culture to the workforce in the future.

India Inc has no choice but to progress its work culture. The balance should be between staying true to legacy values and adopting new ‘methods’ to foster or transmit these values.

Indubitably, the future of work is going to be marked by growth in technology, remote working and so on and some of these aspects may still not be too clear. But one thing is tangible, and certain – business culture will continue to define and guide the future of work as well.