Every organization (business, firm, company, non-profit, etc.) exists to meet a human need. Churches meet spiritual needs, grocery stores meet our need for food, gas stations for gas, department stores for clothes – you get my point….

 

In order to meet those human needs, we need people. The people working at those organizations have relationships among themselves and with others. So, in essence, our entire existence is based on relationships. Relationships with our employees, customers, community, vendors, suppliers, government, and so on.  

 

Organizationally, we call those relationships Culture. Culture is who we are, how we behave, and our relationships with people. Most of the time organizations don’t “manage” their culture.   It just sort of happens and is usually the result of the personalities of the people who have led the organization over the years. Culture doesn’t develop overnight, and it can’t be changed overnight.

 

Let’s look at the above discussion in reverse. If we have a great culture where our employees come into work everyday fired up, motivated and excited about working, our relationships are better. If our relationships are better, our customer service is better, the quality of our product is better, we make more money because we have a high quality product that people want to buy and we grow because of increased demand and the financial resources to do so.

 

Does that sound like “soft stuff?” It doesn’t to me. In fact, it sounds like the reason we exist.

 

That’s why Culture is crucial.