Overrated and Underrated

Corporate culture has long been overrated, at least the way I see it. Even the term “corporate culture” has become a meaningless catchphrase as CEOs and VPs use it all the time, draining it of any real impact. Do they even know what it is? The phrase seems empty as “culture” is not a static thing, it is changing all the time. Yet many of those in charge do not address that reality when they are using it. They don’t adapt. They think their culture is set in stone.

Just as corporate culture has been overrated, I believe individuality has been underrated. And I’ll tell you how.

First, let’s look at the rise of the individual in modern day society, and the transition in some industries from group-think to individual-think. We used to worship sports teams, proudly displaying their name on hats or personal gear. Now, we worship individual players. As it is common for players to be traded or move around from one team to another, it has become more common for the public to follow individual players rather than the team they play for.

Similarly, in the business world. It used to be common for people to work in one place until retirement. Now, no one stays in one place for too long. Yet even with this turnover, employers are too often stuck in this mindset of their culture being the most important thing. They’ve overrated it. Which is nuts, because it is people who make up corporate culture.

I believe the individual needs to be elevated or valued more in the corporate world. A smart employer makes the most of the people they have. But to do that you have to get to know them, to understand their particular skill set and how they can be most appropriately put to use. Employers need to stop forcing employees to adapt to company culture and instead discern their unique character and professional strengths. It is only then you can make the most of a hire.

Author Greg Mckeown once said, “If you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack. And if you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have.” Too many employers look for fault or problems to fix while ignoring what is good in their staff. Or they don’t bother to understand or value what employees bring to the table. And so too often they lose them.

If you look at the Mission statement on a corporate website it will tell you one thing. If you go to that corporation’s social media page it will tell you another. Social media may contain a lot of trash, but it also has plenty of gems, and on a company’s social media page you will often find many subcultures. For example, I’ve been in martial arts all my life and in archery for the better part of 15 years. In every archery community there is a club, and within each club there are individuals. When friends of mine see that page they are impressed by how engaged everyone is, and the niche topics raised. They are impressed by the diversity of ideas and opinions. And yet those ideas and opinions are often nowhere to be found in that company’s culture, or on their web site and if they are, they are present in miniscule amounts.

So I say companies need to start celebrating the individual as is seen on social media, and evolving in how they define company culture so that they do not become stale. If they don’t, they are missing a huge opportunity to bolster employee retention and their company brand. There are too many vibrant subcultures out there to be ignored.