Top 12 ways employees learn culture in an organization

Organizational culture is incredibly important for the overall success of your business. It influences teamwork, productivity, and efficiency, which in turn increases employee job satisfaction and morale. In this article, we’ll unpack the different ways employees can learn about the culture in an organization. 

1. Train your employees

If you want to nurture curiosity and learning with your employees, reinforcing culture can be done through training and learning interventions. Educate them about the organization’s main cultural goals, examples, and objectives and the ins and outs of your corporate culture by organizing a training program or creating an organizational culture article that they can refer back to.

This lets them know what the culture of your organization is. Doing a face-to-face session is one way to learn, but if you want to achieve higher participation rates from your team, then you might want to consider holding online training instead. 

SC Training (formerly EdApp) has been used to drive habitual change and reinforce behaviors, expectations, and a different cultural approach to organizations - all through an online learning method called microlearning.

This approach gives organizations the power to instill essential information in employees in a very digestible way. It can incorporate many elements of what makes up a culture, allowing employees to absorb more information in a shorter amount of time.

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2. Reinforce spaced repetition

Spaced repetition is a learning process where key information is repeated at regular intervals. Trainers and managers usually apply this technique to their training process to make sure that their employees will continue processing certain concepts in their brains and not simply store and forget them later on.

Likewise, you can also use it to help your team members learn at work, remember your organizational values and practices, and embed them into their long-term memory. 

3. Talk about organizational stories

Organizational stories are often based on memorable past events that are repeatedly talked about and shared with other employees, particularly new starters. These stories can include narratives or events relating to founders, conquers, successes, failures of the organization, and even how is culture transmitted and formed.

Values are often reinforced through the re-telling of stories, as is what engaged employees should and should not do. Incorporating story design into your learning interventions can be a very powerful tool to equip your employees with real-life examples of the right behavior. If you’re a little unsure about how to use this learning approach, then you might want to consider taking SC Training's Story Design course.

This course will guide you through the right way of structuring and delivering your stories, and how you can make them strong and relevant. It follows a microlearning design model and is jam-packed with interactive elements like games and quizzes to secure higher retention from its learners. 

4. Set rituals and ceremonies

Rituals and ceremonies refer to repetitive patterns, which can be used to emphasize an organization’s values and core practices, or what a company stands for. The use of repeated symbols or patterns to communicate ideas is called a motif.

This idea is found in organizational rituals. For example, if you have an outcome-based culture, one way to help your employees learn this culture of an organization is by regularly rewarding them for good work.

Offer material prizes like a gadget or a coffee voucher for your company’s top performers. You can also organize monthly lunches with your team to celebrate their performance from the previous month. Setting such rituals and ceremonies sends your team a strong message about your organization and culture. 

5. Assign organizational heroes

Organizational champions, who are often referred to as ‘heroes’, are the top talents who perform in an exemplary manner. It's important to note that culture is learned. These people have the behavior and work ethics that best reflect the philosophy and culture of your organization.

Having these figures as role models in a learning organization will give the other employees an idea of the person they should follow to adjust and adapt to your company culture. 

6. Establish cultural symbols

Symbols serve as a representation of an organization’s culture, which instills a sense of identity and drive in employees. They traditionally communicate with those in the organization through unspoken messages like company logos and branding. You can also teach your employees about organizational culture by adding messages on office walls, creating unique room labels for meeting rooms, or distributing office merchandise. 

7. Use a consistent tone of voice

One of the best organizational culture examples involves employing a brand voice builder to create a consistent tone of voice. Organizations frequently utilize this tool to delineate their brand and culture through spoken and written expressions.

Consistently harnessing your company's brand voice, whether communicating internally or with clients, facilitates comprehensive culture assimilation for everyone on your team. For instance, if your company aims to foster a formal culture where individuals in positions of authority are addressed differently, then using titles like "Mister" and "Ma'am" should be the norm.

Conversely, adopting a more informal and playful tone is advisable if you intend to cultivate a friendly and personalized organizational culture within the workplace.

8. Organize team-building activities

Another way employees can learn culture in an organization is through team building. Organize company culture ideas and activities that will bring your employees together and give them a better grasp of your company’s brand and culture through bonding and connection.

Team building is also a great way for the members of your organization to learn about each other, like how they communicate, plan, and solve problems. They can then use their observations to improve their work habits and ethics. 

For remote teams, you can also set up team-building exercises that will allow your employees to bond virtually, regardless of their location. Check out this list of virtual team bonding activities for how you can bring everyone together and teach your organization’s culture in a virtual setting. 

9. Offer mentorship programs

Mentorship programs allow employees to interact with their seniors or high-performing colleagues. The process is simple and straightforward. Mentors will share their knowledge and experience with their mentees and watch them closely until a specific goal is met.

Offering this type of program is one of the best ways employees can learn about culture, as they’ll get to observe it directly and closely from someone who probably best represents your organization’s culture, beliefs, and values.

10. Allow mobile learning

With the significant increase in smartphone users today, why not take advantage of this trend to teach your employees about your organization’s culture and values? Adopting a mobile learning approach will give your employees the ultimate convenience to learn more about your company culture anytime and anywhere.

Just think about how many field employees and remote workers you can train and educate about your company culture by making learning easily accessible through their handheld devices. You’ll see improved corporate culture management and a higher level of participation from your team by using this learning strategy.

Materials that are acquired to be used within the organization are referred to as consumable materials. SC Training is the perfect place to create training programs and consumable materials that will adapt perfectly to any device, including smartphones. This is because its course creator tool comes with course templates optimized for mobile use.

11. Schedule weekly catch-ups

More than tracking your team members' progress and performance, you can set aside some time during your catchups to help them learn more about your company. Perhaps they've got questions they don't feel confident sharing with the whole team.

This is a great opportunity for them to express their concerns and feelings without feeling judged. Weekly catchups also reflect your company's culture in many ways. It promotes open communication, collaboration, and goal alignment. Remember, they're more than just fulfilling administrative tasks.

12. Participate in company events

The last way to share your organization's culture is to encourage your team to participate in company events. From internal social gatherings to wellness week and year-end parties, these examples of organizational culture offer exciting opportunities for your employees to connect with people outside of your team.

Their participation paves the way for stronger bonds and relationships. The latest employee engagement statistics show that higher engagement leads to a 21% increase in company profit. Indeed, when your workers feel motivated to complete their tasks, you can expect faster turnarounds and better quality of outputs.