from manager to employee to guest and
back into the brand.
“It’s a virtuous circle,” said Lowe.
“Even though the company operates in
so many countries with so many ethnic
and religious backgrounds, this princi-ple
translates into every culture and every
background, so everyone understands it.”
Of course, there are challenges to main-taining
a connected principle or vision
across markedly different global cultures.
“In each geography, you might have a
different interpretation of the corporate
culture,” said Flatt. “As long as those inter-pretations
are aligned, you’re okay. When
they’re not, it’s difficult to speak a common
language and you might see internal strife.”
LINK BETWEEN INTERNAL
AND EXTERNAL
While differing cultures within an organi-zation
can cause trouble, tensions can also
arise when there’s a disconnect between an
internal and external culture or brand.
“There should be resonance,” said Lowe.
For example, a company that supports
community causes and encourages employ-ees
to be actively involved as volunteers is
clearly putting value on community involve-ment.
But, Lowe pointed out, “If internally,
there’s no work-life balance and people don’t
have the time to do externally what they’re
being urged to do internally, then there’s
a complete disconnect.” Lowe also em-phasizes
the importance of spotting this
connection – or disconnection – and help-ing
C-suite decision makers see it, too.
“To establish and reinforce culture
and values, an organization has to be
completely consistent in the eyes of all
stakeholders,” he said. “Employees are big
stakeholders.”
Between CSR initiatives that put or-ganizations
in more direct contact with
communities, the prevalence of social me-dia
and a business world that’s less and less
siloed, the line between an internal culture
and an external brand is becoming so per-meable,
it’s almost nonexistent. To keep
both the internal and external cultures
healthy and interconnected, “It’s really
important to link your culture with your
employer brand, organization brand, com-munity
brand and consumer brand,” said
Sabapathy. “What I’ve seen is there’s been
an increasing partnership between HR
and marketing.”
THE LONG GAME
“Developing a particular corporate cul-ture
is not a goal to set for next quarter.
You have to be in it for the long haul,”
said Sabapathy. Experts estimate it takes
between three and 10 years to develop a
strong culture. That’s a challenging pros-pect
in a society with a love for short-term
results and a generalized anxiety about
change.
In spite of this, HR needs to approach
culture with a long-term plan in mind
and the understanding that an aligned
culture will deliver superior results for
an organization in nearly every measur-able
way.
“CEOs and other leaders get that cul-ture
makes a significant difference in
performance,” said Sabapathy. “It’s such
a critical business area and it’s a place
where HR can drive real value creation,
demonstrate high-impact leadership and
really shine.” n
cover feature
24 ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2014 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL