Organizational Culture

http://hifadhiafrica.org/

Google, the brainchild of Larry Page, then 22 and Sergey Brin then 21 from Stanford University had its first office in a garage in the suburbs. Larry and Brin had no food and other necessities but succeeded in building one of the best Organizations in the Planet. Google was founded with the idea that work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun. The Founders believed that great, creative things are more likely to happen with the right company culture. Over the years therefore, the technology giant firm have emphasized on team achievements and pride in individual accomplishments. They stressed on employees’ contribution towards their quest to change the world more than looks and dresses. A part from that, the company provides free food to all its employees worldwide because their founders relates to lack of the same.  

One may ask what is an organizational culture and its relation to performance or simply why it matters. Well, Organizational culture is that shared belief or tradition that all members of a particular organization identifies with and prides in. In layman’s language, it’s the binding bond developed overtime that unites the organization towards its ultimate vision. You may have probably heard someone saying, “We at Safaricom do this way…” or “That is not how we do it here.”

This culture is critical for serious and competitive companies because it rallies employees’ positive energies en route to the realization of their missions and ultimate goals. 

In the last decades, confusion and panic rocked many established organizations with the emergence of what is now famously known as generation Y. The Dot Coms as they were earlier referred to defied bluntly an existing definition and mind frames of what and how Organizational Culture should be. A generation that had tremendous believes in their capabilities had emerged. They believed less in the mighty institutions and knew that they depended on their individual skills if they are to knock new heights. Understandably, the new definition was reluctantly adapted. It was more of a survival issue for most managers. It was a losing debate.

Like most subsequent Institutions that were formed after this turbulent period and importantly by the same generation Y, Hifadhi Africa Organization’s position on the raging debate that has since shied from subsiding, is one that is employee centered. HAO is a youth-inspired vision and our ultimate goal is to transform societies. Assembling a team with the right passion for change, integrity, professional qualification and the desire to achieve personal development are our emphasis, more than the individual’s social life, dressing code or working hours. We are determined to power societies to prosperity and our team must be the one with the right ingredients to doing exactly that. 

The Organization is investing in healthy interaction among our members, the communities around us and the world at large because these are some of the things that shall define our culture. Being developing as the organization is, our Directors have and are continuing to lay fundamental foundations that shall captivate sense of common understanding and origin. 

At Hifadhi Africa, members are empowered to contribute intellectually towards innovative ideas that shall gear the institution’s wheel and take lead in their implementations. At the same time, our programs are designed to accommodate the communities we are engaging. Managing talented, visionary young team and uniquely diverse African Communities only serves to make our job fun.  

Organizations must enrich performance-led environment that seeks to explore individual growth and hence contribution instead of the traditional “formal outlook”. Employees must be empowered to run programs that they love and have passion to doing them. There is also need for open communication and freedom of expression as well as breeding the right mix with the old generation. 

To quote Joe Mucheru, the Google Kenya Country Lead, “the fact that you are paying someone a big salary is not the issue anymore. They want to know if they are making a difference.”