Company culture

Company culture defines how people work, interact, and make decisions within an organisation. It reflects shared values, leadership behaviour, and everyday practices that shape the employee experience

What is company culture?

Company culture refers to the shared values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviours, and ways of working that define how employees interact with each other and with the organization. It influences how decisions are made, how leaders lead, how teams collaborate, and how employees experience the workplace on a daily basis.

From communication styles and work ethics to leadership behaviour and employee benefits, company culture shapes every stage of the employee lifecycle.

Why does company culture matter?

A strong and positive company culture plays a critical role in long-term business success. It directly impacts how employees feel about their work and their organization.

A healthy company culture:

• improves employee engagement and retention
• aligns teams with business goals and organizational values
• enhances productivity, collaboration, and accountability
• builds trust, belonging, and psychological safety

A poor company culture often leads to burnout, disengagement, low morale, and high attrition.

Company culture examples

Different organizations adopt different approaches based on their goals, workforce, and leadership style. Common company culture examples include:

• People-first culture: focuses on employee wellbeing, flexibility, empathy, and work-life balance
• Performance-driven culture: emphasises results, accountability, high standards, and continuous growth
• Innovation-led culture: encourages creativity, experimentation, learning, and calculated risk-taking
• Remote-friendly culture: built on trust, autonomy, outcome-based performance, and collaboration

Most organizations follow a mix of culture types rather than a single approach.

How to fit in company culture?

Understanding how to fit in company culture is especially important for new hires and growing teams. Cultural fit does not mean uniformity; it means alignment with shared values and ways of working.

Employees can fit into company culture by:

• understanding the organization’s values, mission, and expectations
• observing communication styles, leadership behaviour, and decision-making processes
• aligning daily behaviour with team norms and workplace ethics
• actively participating in feedback, collaboration, and learning opportunities

Strong company culture allows diverse perspectives while maintaining shared principles.

What is a toxic company culture?

A toxic company culture refers to a work environment where unhealthy behaviours, poor leadership practices, and misaligned values negatively affect employees’ wellbeing, motivation, and performance.

In a toxic company culture, employees often experience constant stress, lack of trust, poor communication, and fear of speaking up. Over time, this leads to burnout, disengagement, low morale, and high employee turnover, even if the organisation offers good pay or benefits.

Common characteristics of a toxic company culture include unrealistic workloads, favouritism, lack of accountability, ignoring employee feedback, and leaders not practising the values they promote.

How to create a company culture?

HR teams and leadership play a key role in how to create a company culture that supports both employees and business outcomes.

This can be done by:

• clearly defining organizational values and expected behaviours
• ensuring leaders consistently model the desired culture
• hiring for values and attitude, not just technical skills
• embedding culture into onboarding, policies, performance reviews, and reward systems

Company culture should be intentional rather than accidental.

How to improve company culture?

Company culture is not static. As organizations evolve, it becomes essential to focus on how to improve company culture continuously.

Organizations can improve company culture by:

• listening to employee feedback through surveys and regular check-ins
• addressing burnout, workload challenges, and employee wellbeing gaps
• investing in transparent communication and trust-building practices
• Reviewing employee benefits like group health insurance plans, flexibility policies, and career growth opportunities

Company culture evolves with people, leadership, and everyday actions, requiring ongoing attention and effort.