Guide to Enhancing Organizational Culture in the Digital Age

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In this guide:

• What is company culture or organizational culture?
• What shapes organizational culture?
• How to improve corporate culture in the digital age.
• 10 use cases for video to improve your organizational culture.
• See an example of a video that elevates company culture.
• How to make a video that boosts your organizational culture.

What is company culture or organizational culture?

Company Culture Definition

Company culture, also known as organizational culture or corporate culture, describes the shared values, goals, characteristics, and behavior of humans within an organization.

Organizational culture has a lot to do with how management and employees interact and communicate with each other and the world outside of the organization. Company culture develops over time, but some elements require specific attention and effort from leadership to shape an ideal work environment.

5 key elements that shape organizational culture:

Key Element 1: Communication

There are many forms of communication that take place at an organization: internal, external, one-way, two-way, peer-to-peer, manager-to-report, employee-to-customer, and beyond. The sum of all those interactions can have a substantial impact on your organizational culture.

Strong organizations aim for open communication to promote an environment of honesty, transparency, mutual respect, and positive recognition.

Key Element 2: Resource Availability

Successful companies prioritize putting the proper tools in the hands of their workers. It starts with taking a comprehensive look at what each employee needs to succeed. Beyond physical equipment, employees typically require training, access to further information, team collaboration channels, co-worker contact details, and so on.

Many of the foundational tools employees need can also be used for relationship building among co-workers, managers, and the company as a whole.

Key Element 3: Employee Appreciation

In case you’ve ever wondered, “Why is employee recognition important?” Employee appreciation calls attention to workers and rewards them for their contributions to the team or organization. This can take many forms, including anything from a promotion to simple positive feedback. 

The best way to make an employee feel appreciated is to show that you see and value them as an individual.

Key Element 4: Team Building

In many modern organizations, it can be rare that team members get to meet in person. Teams today are distributed across states, countries, and even continents. But that shouldn’t prevent team building, personal connections, or group celebrations.

Companies that make an effort to facilitate strong teamwork and collaboration—either virtually or in person—see positive impacts on organizational culture. Open dialogue, shared support, and positive recognition are all imperative to successful team building.

Key Element 5: Transition Management

From new hire to retire, employees at agile organizations see and experience a lot of change over the years. Whether announcing a promotion, welcoming a new team member, or bidding a retiree farewell, change is an opportunity to celebrate company values and the employees who live by them.

How to improve corporate culture in the digital age

Cultural change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. The good news is, improving your organizational culture does not require a big budget, excessive time, or special training. You can facilitate a strong organizational culture by using the tools your team already has (computers, smartphones, and other devices) to: 

• Communicate the mission, vision, and values frequently. 
• Highlight specific individuals, situations, and actions as great examples of your organizational values and company culture. 
• Encourage employees and managers to live out company values by mirroring your approach to recognition and appreciation for other co-workers.

The best tool for accomplishing each of the three goals above is something most organizations and employees have easy access to: video!

Why video?

Because video is powerful. If the prevalence of TikTok and YouTube as entertainment platforms is not proof enough, think about the virality of video. Adobe reported that video content gets 48% more views on social media than image or plain text posts, and social video generates 1,200% more shares than text and image content combined! People love sharing videos just as much as (if not more than) they love watching them.

Add to that the psychology of social proof. The way social proof works is: the more visible a given behavior is, the more likely it is to be repeated, especially by similar others (i.e. employees at the same company). Countless studies have proven the influence of social proof. 

So what does this mean for your organizational culture?

It means you should use the virality of video and the strength of social proof to spread positive recognition and strong values throughout and beyond your organization.

10 use cases for video to improve your organizational culture:

Leveraging video and social proof to boost your organizational culture is actually very easy. Just think of the many reasons employees and leadership have to communicate and celebrate.

1. New Hire Videos: Record a “Welcome to the team!” video introducing each team member and their role.

2. Orientation & Onboarding Videos: Kick off orientation and onboarding with a fun video about what to expect.

3. Training Videos: Tie values into each employee training video.

4. Employee Appreciation Videos: Appreciate an employee for their efforts and achievements, and talk about how they exemplify company culture.

5. Promotion Videos: Congratulate someone for earning a promotion.

6. Management Appreciation Videos: Applaud great managers for leading and inspiring their team.

7. Work Anniversary Videos: Honor an employee’s milestone with your company.

8. Holiday & Birthday Videos: Celebrate special occasions, seasonal events, and birthdays.

9. Big Win Videos: Celebrate teams, departments, and individuals for hitting targets and goals with workplace appreciation videos.

10. Retirement Videos: Send off a retiree with a sweet celebration of their career they can replay forever.

See an example of a video that elevates company culture:

How to make a video that boosts your organizational culture:

Tribute is the most user-friendly employee appreciation video montage maker. In a few simple steps, you can collaborate with others, gather videos, and use our easy editor to bring it all together. Or our concierge service can professionally edit your videos for you!