Four Types of Corporate Cultures
Find out if your business embodies the attributes you aspire to — and learn how to create an authentic environment your employees will love.
Mark Murphy, CEO, Leadership IQ When HR executives tell me that they want to improve their corporate culture, they often imagine a workplace where employees are socially connected, people collaborate, leaders are empathic, and there’s a friendly atmosphere.While that corporate culture sounds lovely, here’s a shocking statistic: Only 31% of employees actually want to work in that sort of environment. Meanwhile, 69% would prefer a very different kind of culture.
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4 types of corporate cultures
More than 20,000 leaders have taken Leadership IQ’s online test, “What’s Your Organizational Culture?” The data from the test reveals that there are four major corporate cultures:
- Social Culture: This organization is often relaxed and casual, and the line may be blurred between professional relationships and friendships. Workers are often given a lot of trust and are highly collaborative.
- Dependable Culture: This company is very process-focused and predictable on a day-to-day basis. People pride themselves on efficiency and standards and value workers who follow protocol.
- Enterprising Culture: This organization is a meritocracy where the best idea always wins regardless of status or tenure. Creativity and intelligence are valued, and the organization is competitive, even if the competition between workers is friendly.
- Hierarchical Culture: This culture is hierarchical and very traditional. An outsider could easily figure out who is in what role and at what level. People both value and compete for power.
