5 Companies That Built Inspiring Organizational Cultures in Business
Culture matters. Organizational culture in business is the very essence of a company—its values, how it functions, how people in and around it interact with one another. When culture and business goals align, employees are more in tune with what it means to be part of your organization. A healthy culture is, in fact, a catalyst for employee engagement, collaboration, and innovation—all of which help your business yield higher returns. Below are 5 examples of how different companies raised their organizational culture in business to inspiring new levels.
1. LinkedIn
LinkedIn used their research and knowledge taken from a previous pilot program to create a workspace that would support the unique needs of their engineering teams. Observation and learning about their existing culture and behaviors were keys to developing new concepts, such as “neighborhoods” and “dynamic team zones.” Brought to fruition, these spaces help encourage engagement and collaboration, and in turn, raise LinkedIn’s organizational culture to a new level.
2. American Water
With their new headquarters campus at the center, American Water has created a supportive environment for their business, brand, culture, and well-being. Employees are drawn to the community-focused culture, which will be preserved and carried on by those same people today, tomorrow, and well into the future.
3. Dairy Farmers of America
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) set out to create a new, engaging headquarters space to supports employees in their jobs, but also as people—a place where they really want to work, and where they can do their best work. They moved from their traditional leased office space into a new building with spaces designed to build a culture of collaboration. One highlight of the new environment is the Milk Bar, a fun dairy-themed collaborative and social space that embraces the new DFA culture and showcases the base of its business.
4. DaVita
The world-class DaVita headquarters is a model for promoting a culture of health and well-being, offering spaces that provide flexibility. The space matches DaVita’s philosophy of “community first, company second” and their mission to be the provider, partner, and employer of choice—helping patients live healthier and higher-quality lives.
5. MEC – Mountain Equipment Co-Op
The MEC office building was designed with unique, inspiring spaces that embody the company’s active lifestyle brand, culture, and values. The environment includes a bouldering cave and storage area for 128 bikes that support MEC’s rich climbing and cycling culture, a large multi-purpose room for fitness and yoga classes, and the cafeteria with an adjacent garden that draws employees in to gather and socialize.