Culture and Cultural Awareness

Every organisation has a culture, they are all unique and have a significant effect on organisational performance. However, culture and cultural practice are not often given due attention and resource and are more often taken for granted and even ignored as not being important.

Professor Mike West of the Aston Business School in the UK conducted research in more than 100 companies over an eight year period as to the influence of culture on business performance.  What he found was this:  a clearly defined strategy and plan in a business accounted for 2% of performance variability, while a clearly defined organisational culture (congruent to a core ideology) accounted for 17% of performance variability.  In other words, even the best business strategy in the world will underperform without a strong and aligned organisational culture to support it.

Ideally the culture will be based on the core values of the organisation translated into practical day-to-day actions and behaviour. When people experience congruence between the stated values and the behaviours they encounter, trust is developed. These environments encourage innovation and collaborative practice, which in turn lifts individual and team performance. We can help you to understand your organisation’s culture, and shape it to be congruent, healthy and sustainable.

Culturally our societies are becoming more mixed in ethnic and cultural make up. This brings with it a mix of opportunities and challenges for all members of the community to deal with. And naturally this applies to workplaces as societal subsets. We help people learn how to get the best from the cultural diversity in their teams, organisation and communities (including customers and suppliers).

Key Services

Collaborative, Innovative Cultures
We work with teams and organisation to set culture and ensure that it is kept healthy and vibrant. It is critical that leaders and managers display culturally congruent behaviour and action. At the same time, the culture of a team or organisation is everyone’s responsibility. Collaborative practice and cultures create challenging and rewarding environments to be a part of. We work with you to firstly ensure core values are defined and clear, and then through workshops and coaching, help people to take responsibility for their contribution.

Cultural Awareness and Training
Improve your ability to tap into the potential and opportunities that peoples’ different cultures bring to your organisation, whether they are colleagues, clients or suppliers. Our particular area of experience is in dealing effectively with various Muslim cultures and cultural practice. Our programmes help people to benefit from the value that this diversity offers their teams and organisations. Our workshops are interactive and practical so that people can learn in a relaxed environment about the religion of Islam and Muslim cultures.
Read more on Cultural Awareness Training Workshops