The term “organizational culture” continues to be a popular topic among management and leaders in the business world. Michael Watkins, in an article for the “Harvard Business Review” (https://hbr.org/2013/05/what-is-organizational- culture) explains this is the strategy which an organization or business uses to hire, manage, retain, and develop current employees for leadership roles. Many businesses, organizations and even universities lose exceptionally talented employees because their strengths and talents were not recognized. Additionally, an effective talent management strategy provides a mechanism to develop future leaders and managers. Managers play a key role in an organizations talent management strategy, as they must identify talented, exceptional employees. Managers also serve as mentors, providing coaching and feedback to develop employees. Research conducted by the American Society for Training and Development documented that those organizations with the most successful talent management systems, asked managers to discuss the talents and skills of their most talented employees with other managers and leaders. Discussing the organizations most talented employees creates an internal talent pool that various departments can draw from to fill current positions. Do you have exceptional employees in your organization? What is your talent management strategy? Are you at risk of losing your best employees? He suggests that organizational culture is often debated because we know it’s important, but there is little consensus on what it actually is. The classical definition of organizational culture is the shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize an institution or organization. Others define organizational culture more simply as “who we are and how we do things.” Most employees spend more time in the workplace than their homes. Thus, the culture of an organization becomes an important component of a healthy workplace environment. A recent Gallup poll reported that employees who “strongly agree” with the statement “I feel connected to my organizations culture” are 3.7 times as likely to be engaged in their work and 68% less likely to feel “burned out.” Culture is important. So, what is the culture of your organization? Independently and anonymously asking your staff or employees to “Define the culture of your organization in one word” can be great way to capture and define the culture of your organization.
For more information, contact Justin Waggoner at jwaggon@ksu.edu.
