Organisational culture survey shows widespread mismatch between behaviour and policies

Organisational culture focuses on how people within a company think, feel and behave, and can have a significant impact on achieving strategic ambitions. Its intangible nature means it is traditionally hard to define and measure.

In the first study of its kind on the topic, more than 1,170 UK managers and employees from large and small-to-medium sized organisations across a range of sectors were questioned on cultural alignment; diversity, equality and inclusion; wellbeing; and opportunities to improve company culture.

Just 18% of employees feel their organisation’s stated values or external image is very aligned to the current culture, while a quarter (25%) believe that the behaviour of their leader does not reflect values portrayed externally.

The results also showed that only half of employees feel like the day-to-day behaviour at their organisation aligns with diversity, equality and inclusions policies. Just 49% said that there is a strong alignment, with a third (35%) expressing that there are inconsistencies.

Although almost a quarter (24%) stated that their current culture does not support inclusivity, 76% said that it actively encourages positive choices or behaviours and discourages negative ones.

In relation to wellbeing, more than one third (38%) thought that the current culture does not promote wellbeing and 31% expressed that their organisational culture doesn’t promote ethical choices and behaviours. In 28% of cases, respondents said that unethical choices or behaviours are allowed or overlooked.

Dr Zara Whysall, lead researcher and Associate Professor of Business Psychology at Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University, said: “Recent years have seen an amplification of interest among regulators and business leaders in the impact of organisational culture on company performance, ethical conduct and other important outcomes such as inclusion.

“When you walk into an organisation, you soon get a sense of the type of organisation it is: how to behave, what is acceptable, what is frowned upon, what matters, and what doesn’t. You don’t need to read its corporate values or mission statement.

“We can see from these findings that writing mission statements, creating sets of corporate values, policies and procedures does not influence or reflect culture unless these aspirations are embedded into behaviours.

“Without this, you get cultural misalignment, a mismatch between the values espoused by an organisation and the way that employees operate day-to-day.  The results from this study show that cultural misalignment is widespread in UK organisations, which is very concerning.

“However the results were more positive when it came to the opportunity to improve culture, with 59% of people feeling that their organisation is close to where it needs to be, showing that many workplaces need a cultural evolution, not revolution.”

Associate Professor Whysall has released a free white paper Shift Happens: Strategies for Organisational Culture Evolution to help leaders, managers and HR practitioners understand the importance of culture and how it helps and hinders business.

The paper gives practical examples and advice on measuring and navigating culture change. For more information and to download practical resources, visit www.ntu.ac.uk/research/organisational-culture