“Culture”- it has become a popular buzzword in the workplace in recent years. You hear about this concept in several variations such as: Organizational Culture, Corporate Culture or Company Culture. Since the images of “Corporate” or “Organizational” Culture bring up negative connotations for me personally, I prefer to refer to it as “Company Culture”.
Just typing the words “Organizational Culture” brings images to my mind of an impersonal culture based on org charts and uninvolved Boards of Directors. Quite different from the living, breathing, growing, ever-changing organism that is CablesAndKits! Even worse visions dance through my head from the phrase “Corporate Culture”. With that one, I picture large corporations whose culture is based on outdated policies and procedures penned by people wearing suits and sitting in ivory towers. The “rules”, though obsolete and inapplicable, remain in place because “that’s the way we’ve always done it here.” (Proclaimed in deep corporate tones). That is the polar opposite of CnK’s entrepreneurial atmosphere, where the only constant is change, and where creativity, innovation, and collaboration are the order of each day. In other words, we fly by the seat of our pants!
So how does the web (notice I didn’t say Webster’s – duh – we are a technology company, after all) define Company Culture? “It is the term given to the shared values and practices of the employees. (Note that the actual culture may not match the published culture)”.
Or try this one on for size: “Alternative phrase for organizational culture”, (at least it didn’t say alternative phrase for corporate culture), “ Pervasive, deep, largely subconscious, and tacit code that gives the ‘feel’ of an organization and determines what is considered right or wrong, important or unimportant, workable or unworkable in it, and how it responds to the unexpected crises, jolts, and sudden change.”
Check here if you really want to do some in depth reading on Company Culture, but I like the definition I found that said, simply put, your company’s culture is it’s personality. That means you can have a good one, a bad one or not much of one, right? Or maybe you can have a “great personality”, and we all know what that means! (OK, so I really wanted to provide a link for this one, but my favorite Urban Dictionary definition would probably get me in trouble!)
There are several commonly known “personality tests” and we happen to use the DiSC as part of our team building process. We always tell our team members that there are no “right” or “wrong” personality types, but between you and the HR Manager (me), some of them are definitely easier to get along with than others! And we all have different personality types we are more compatible with, depending on our own characteristics. It is the same way with Company Cultures. Fortunately, we have a “GREAT Personality”!
If you like a fun, innovative, productive, creative, always changing culture, where you can remain teachable, aren’t micro-managed by someone in an ivory tower, are a team player (there is no “I” in Team CablesAndKits) and are willing to define your own goals and improve processes, you might find the personality of the CnK Culture compatible with your own! Join Us!