Why is organizational culture important, you ask?

Organizational culture is hugely important to the success and overall health of your company, your people, and your customers. So it’s helpful to spend time considering why your company’s culture is the way it is, and why it’s important that it stays that way (or changes). 

A company’s culture is the only truly unique identifier. It is like a finger print, it may be similar to others, but is uniquely distinct to your business. Everything else (products, strategies, marketing, even innovations) can be replicated, but the only truly unique identifiers are the values and norms of the organization – its culture, or personality. A positive culture in business today is unfortunately the exception rather than the norm, but a strong organizational culture can clearly differentiate a business from its competitors. 

At Pacific Companies, culture is the foundation of the entire business. For us, organizational culture consists of shared beliefs and values established by the organization’s leaders and then communicated and reinforced through various methods, ultimately shaping employee perceptions, behaviors and understanding. To Pacific Companies, culture is the formula, the DNA that provides guidelines, boundaries and expectations for your team and your customers, and is the primary platform to inspiring and motivating your people, and is the most powerful resource you have to attract, recruit, hire and retain the highest level of talent to your business.

Talented humans want to do business with best organizations, because it aligns with their own values and expectations. These talented people, partners and clients see your culture as a strong differentiator, of how you do business, rather than solely on your products or services alone. 

Lastly, strong communication is KEY! In organization’s where good communication is encouraged, where upper-level executives freely communicate with lower-level employees and vice versa with respect and without judgment. PC implements an open-door policy for every employee and always communicates with transparency. 

It doesn’t matter what type of business you have, if there are no clear values and you don’t know your brand “why” your employees will most likely be working solely for a paycheck or benefits and have no real dedication to your brand and team members.

Not only do we know a cultural foundation works well for us at Pacific Companies, there have been studies after studies comparing company culture to overall business success and hands down, every organization that has a clear mission and culture, perform better financially and have happier employees. One thing to remember is that is has to start with the leaders! If they are not living up to what they are preaching, there will be a huge disconnect with how your employees value your culture. 

From the inception, Pacific Companies leaders, Gary Cook, John Paulk and Chris Kahl, have established the below core values as the foundation of who we are, how we hire and how we do business. 

1. Attitude – Believing is everything
2. Sense of Urgency- We don’t stop until the job is done
3. Teamwork- We accomplish more together
4. Accountability- To ourselves, team, candidates and clients
5. No Drama- Save the drama for your mama
6. Driven to Win- Be ambitious & determined. We work smarter not harder

These are just a smattering of reasons why organizational culture is important, there is really no one size fits all for culture. What’s important at your company might be totally different depending on the situation. But we hope this is a good starting point to get you thinking about what your own organization brings to the table. So what are your next steps? Find out what aspects of your organizational culture are most important, and think about performing a culture audit. Your goal is to discover what your “why” and “mission” are and then support that. Congratulations, you’re one step closer to creating an extraordinary workplace.