What’s the difference between a corporate culture and a work environment?

I was recently attending a Jackie Frieberg web seminar that focused on the aspects of culture that affect brand, namely employee engagement and leadership. As I listened to her presentation I considered several of the business environments I have been exposed to and asked one simple question: What’s the difference between a corporate culture and a work environment?

OK, maybe it’s not so simple. Corporate culture tends to be one of those things, like “brand,” for which everyone seems to have a different definition. My definition of corporate culture is still forming, but is essentially a combination of the interpersonal, business and work environments as they relate to a company’s stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, etc.). A significant component of what makes a corporate culture strong is the level of emotional attachment it engenders in employees and customers.

A work environment is the combination of working conditions, benefits and compensation, co-workers and facilities within which an employee works. Generally there is little emotional attachment to a work environment when a strong culture is present.

So my question is: Is it possible for a corporate culture to lose its definition and still maintain a strong and healthful work environment? Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen, in some cases the answer is yes. Though this question only occurred to me recently, it wasn’t hard to start putting together some of the conditions under which this kind of thing can happen.

From what I’ve been able to gather, highly successful companies who have very nurturing environments, little or no direct competition over a long period (or who compete in an oligopoly where all are highly successful) and who have stagnant management structures are most susceptible. Other symptoms that I have seen include explosive growth; cultures built without significant business focus, highly fragmented organizational structures and weak senior leadership.

Some examples of this are companies such as IBM in the late 1980’s; most major airlines prior to September 11, 2001 and the US steel industry in the 1970’s. More recently, there are a number of technology companies that could probably be put in this category, though the long term effects have yet to significantly affect their bottom lines.

What is the difference between the two in business terms? A strong corporate culture drives the business. It motivates employees and assures customers. A strong culture can help a company successfully navigate rough periods and make breakthrough discoveries because everyone in the organization is aligned and focused on a common set of goals.

Often a company with a strong corporate culture also has a very positive and strong work environment.

A company that only has a work environment generally has employees whose motivations are personal and who focus on their own goals and activities to the exclusion of any broader company goals or objectives. Employees in a work environment tend to find motivation in their own income and the benefits they receive and try to avoid being noticed rather than taking initiative. This can be very destructive since the emphasis is off the success of the business and on the individuals within the organization.

Knowing where you stand on the health of your corporate culture can mean the difference between continued success and a long, slow decline that usually is difficult to find reason for. Often it takes years for the decline of a corporate culture to manifest itself in business results, but once it starts to show it can very rapidly accelerate.

Ask yourself: Does my company have a strong culture, has it devolved into simply a work environment, or is it somewhere in between? If the answer is one of the latter two the next question is: How do I fix it? I’ll cover that in the coming weeks and months.