Because culture can be difficult to define, it’s often easier to understand if you look at examples.
1. Team-oriented
Team-oriented cultures encourage employees at all levels to participate and help the company reach its goals. Everyone helps each other out, instead of only looking out for themselves. When hiring someone new, these companies focus more on how the candidate will fit in than what skills they bring to the table.
Staff members are comfortable communicating with each other, and they’ll often try to find a compromise that benefits all involved parties when conflict arises. They are also usually friends with their co-workers and regularly socialize outside of work. This comradery is promoted through frequent team outings or an open office plan, which encourages the team to interact with people in other departments and freely share ideas.
A great example of a team-oriented culture is Zappos, which understands that each new hire influences its culture and team. So, they hold a cultural fit interview for each candidate, which carries a lot of weight when determining who to hire. Then, they offer each new team member $2,000 to quit after their first week of training if they decide the job or company isn’t a good match for them.
2. Traditional
In traditional cultures, there are clearly defined responsibilities and hierarchies. Major decisions are primarily left to the leadership team. Because of the strict chain of command, opportunities to advance often require a formal promotion or transfer process. To project professionalism to their clients, traditional companies usually have a strict, business formal dress code.
Employees typically perform tasks that require their full, uninterrupted attention, and the workplace will include individual offices so workers can shut the door when needed. Staff members are not likely to interact with people outside their department, and they will often communicate through more traditional methods – phone calls and email. Furthermore, they’ll generally proofread their emails before sending them to ensure they’re free of grammatical mistakes.
Although many companies, particularly small businesses, have adopted more relaxed cultures, you’re still likely to see traditional cultures at your local attorney’s office or bank. They want to ensure their clients see them as an authority in their respective industry and feel confident that nothing will fall through the cracks.
3. Freestyle
Freestyle cultures are on the opposite end of the spectrum from traditional ones. They tend to have flexible roles and allow self-organization to promote collaboration within the company. Many startups have freestyle cultures because it’s vital that everyone pitches in and takes on new responsibilities as needed.
Staff members are encouraged and enabled to work however they are most productive, which tends to resonate with an increasingly mobile workforce. Transparency is especially important, and co-workers communicate in all different ways: text, instant message and social media are all fair game, while video chat allows remote workers to dial in and stay engaged when they can’t meet in person.
HubSpot is an excellent example of a freestyle culture. They published their culture slide deck to share their vision and purpose with people outside the company. Not only are they transparent with the world, but they also enact a “no-door policy,” so every team member has access to anyone else in the company. They focus on results rather than the process by allowing their team to try new techniques without having to run every decision by someone on the leadership team.
4. Elite
Businesses that adopt an elite culture want to push the envelope, and they encourage innovation at every level of the organization. They have a strong purpose and want to have an impact, so they’re willing to take big risks to accomplish their goals. Their employees share these same ideals. They regularly push themselves to exceed all expectations by making their jobs a top priority and working 60 to 70 hours a week.
Like with team-oriented businesses, companies that adopt an elite culture will often have an open floorplan. But, they’ll take it a step further and allow workers to move freely around the office so they can hold impromptu brainstorming sessions. Because of this freedom, staff members are usually not afraid to bring their ideas directly to the leadership team or question whether processes could be improved.
To further encourage innovation, companies with an elite culture often opt for a more casual dress code. This allows their team to showcase their creativity through their wardrobe and to ensure that everyone is comfortable at work so they can focus on pursuing new ideas.
A great example of elite culture is Google. Their mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” To achieve this mission and surpass users’ expectations, Google famously allows staff to work on side projects for 20% of their time on the job. This policy has encouraged workers to find innovative ways for Google to achieve its purpose and has led to the creation of products like Gmail and Google Maps.
