The role of Culture in an Organisation
Posted in Home and tagged with culture, Making a difference, organisation on 11/06/2010 11:47 am by adminWith the World Cup upon us, words like ‘team spirit’, ‘gees’, ‘attitude’, ‘motivation’ and ‘passion’ are often heard. The general consensus is that a happy team with great team spirit is often a winning team. In fact, team spirit is often the only differentiator between two teams. In my mind, it is no different in the business world. Team spirit is derived from the culture in a team or organisation.
The competitive business world is like a war zone. Companies are trying to outsmart each other all the time, in order to gain sustainable competitive advantages. Most often, business leaders focus on strategies around product design and innovation, service delivery, or price to find the competitive edge. Brand positioning and advertising in focused distribution channels, and innovative ways of establishing sales opportunities, are other popular battle grounds. Far too seldom, however, the role and potential value of a strong corporate culture (or ‘team spirit’) is recognised as an integral part of a successful arsenal. In my view, a strong corporate culture not only lends itself to a competitive advantage, but the fact that it is particularly difficult to copy gives it its immense sustainability.
The logic is very simple: happy people perform better. The aim, therefore, is to create a work environment where people are happy. The challenge, however, is how to achieve that. In my experience, the starting point is to build a culture around a set of core values, not rules. Given the immense diversity of our rainbow nation, the next challenge is to find core values that are common to all religions, languages and ethnic backgrounds. If successful, this then has the added advantage of galvanising the troops into a strong, loyal unit. Once the set of core values have been discovered, the next challenge is to get individual ‘buy in’ from every member of the team, and once that is achieved, to keep it alive and strong. It is important that everyone understands that there is no hierarchy when it comes to values, and the only way to ensure that it remains a powerful force is if every single team member accepts accountability to act as a co-custodian of the values driven culture.
At MiWay, we build our culture around four simple values, namely freedom, attitude, energy and accountability. As CEO, I spend two hours with every new intake of staff, which happens every month, to ensure they become co-custodians of our values. Our management team ensures that all communication to staff is done in the context of the four values. Lastly, we have a weekly floating trophy, a samurai sword that goes to the individual who set the best example of living up to the values in the preceding week. At the end of the year, we have different ways of honouring and rewarding all the weekly winners. The passion and excitement surrounding the nomination process, and the prestige associated with receiving the award, leave me in no doubt our values driven culture is well and alive and giving us a sustainable competitive advantage in the market.
At MiWay, we are one big team. We battle together and we have fun together. We enjoy each other’s company. Often, this feeling of togetherness helps us to overcome tough challenges. Our corporate culture creates the environment for us to be competitive and successful in the ultra-competitive business world…..it often gives us the edge to win the battle. Most importantly, it ensures that we are having fun in the process.
Kind regards,
June 17th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Hi Rene
You work ethic & use of values (not rules), is something that would make many government departments more efficient & generally “happier” places.
I’ve been a client of MI WAY for the past 2 & half years, without any claims. I do feel that some sort of “positive” feedback from MI WAY regarding my on-going no claims “support” would be appreciated. I did come from an Outsurance insurance “situation”, so feedback on a monthly basis, makes the client know they are “appreciated”.
Also, with many South Africans feeling the financial “pinch” & commuting to work via scooters, motorbikes, etc. Many insured vehicles stand parked inside their garages at home, only being used over weekends, etc. Wouldn’t a “drive miles” specific insurance plan, make more sense for these clients. Seeing that most of the “risk” is taken when the vehicle is on public roads?
Thank you for listening.
Martin
June 18th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Hi Martin,
Thank you for your comment. I am delighted to hear that you have been one of our first clients. As you probably know, you are approximately six months away from qualifying for your MiRewards – which is our way of showing our appreciation for your continued support and loyalty.
Thank you for the suggestion that we should communicate more frequently with our loyal clients. Regarding the “drive miles” suggestion: we indeed have a product, called MiDriveStyle, that is tailor made for people who drive low kilometres. One of our agents will give you a call in this regard.
Kind regards,
René Otto
August 30th, 2010 at 12:01 am
I would like to bring the following under your attention -
1) On Thursday 12 Aug, I went onto the net looking for insurance quotes for my MacBook & since I travel with the computer between home & office I needed it covered for both. I left my details on the Mi Way & Outsurance sites. Outsurance called me & sent thru a quote within 24 hours. I’m still waiting too hear from Mi Way.
2) I’ve had my vehicle insured with Mi Way for the past 2 half years. I’ve had no claims & pay every month without problems. I’ve received “adverts” regarding the use of “Mi Way” bonuses, but have never been informed in anyway, how many “Mi Way” bonuses I have accumulated. Also there’s been no reply regarding my B-Day or anything, making a Mi Way client feel “good”. Is this too much to ask ? In this current market, shouldn’t the clients feel “pampered” ??
Looking forward to your reply Rene.
Martin C Horne
September 1st, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Dear Martin,
Thank you for your comment. Please accept my apology for the fact that you have not been contacted regarding your MacBook. Our system shows that an attempt was made to call you, but the call was dropped. We should have persisted. You will be contacted without delay.
Regarding the “adverts” about “MiWay bonuses”: I am in the process to ascertain exactly what you are referring to. I will respond in due course.
Regarding your B-day proposal, I once again apologize that you have not received a response. I didn’t realise you were waiting for a personal response.
Regarding our service in general: our commitment to transparent and awesome service is evident from our superior rating on hellopeter.com’s league table. We are far from perfect, and we still make too many mistakes for my liking, but based on the comments posted on hellopeter.com, we seem to be getting it right more often than our opposition.
In future, please contact myself and Greta Goosen, my head of Client Services directly at rene@miway.co.za, and gretag@miway.co.za. We will ensure that you, being one of our first clients, get the attention you deserve.
I once again offer my unreserved apology for your negative experience with MiWay’s service.
Kind regards,
Rene