What would your drawing look like?

Over the years, during Organizational Development sessions, I’ve had employees draw a picture of their organizational culture. Some of the pictures make other participants in the session want to work for that organization and others, well not so much. What would your drawing look like?

Culture is “the shared attitudes, values, beliefs, and customs of members of a social unit or organization” (Walter, 1985). Asking employees to draw their organizational culture brings to light the aspects of this definition. The organization comes alive and others discover the shared attitudes, values, beliefs and customs. Not only does a drawing bring the culture to life, but so do words. What are your employees saying about your organization? Word of mouth is the most powerful communication vehicle and during the changing economic times, we’ve all heard from those colleagues, family and friends who are disenchanted with their current culture.

Do you have a hard time attracting and retaining a talented workforce? If you do, maybe you need to investigate your organizational culture.