The Absa Bank Uganda Human Capital Director Sylvia Mulomi has tipped Human Resource (HR) practitioners about the organisational culture and work ethic as key to shaping a thriving workplace, which ultimately results in the company’s success, including higher revenues.
She was speaking during the HR Community Appreciation breakfast meeting at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel on 25th January 2024, organised by Motivation Hub Limited.
According to Mulomi, there’s significant evidence that an effective organizational culture provides a major competitive edge higher levels of employee and customer engagement and loyalty translate into higher growth and profits.
“It’s very important to understand what people in our organisations truly believe, what’s their work ethic? Do people do the right thing even when no one is seeing them? As Absa Bank Uganda, after COVID COVID-19 period, we agreed to close the gap between us and the people we serve, and these efforts have yielded results; we have seen people testify about us,” she stated.
Organisational culture is a set of values, beliefs, attitudes, systems, and rules that outline and influence employee behaviour within an organisation. It is the collective identity of an organisation, influencing how employees perceive and respond to the work environment.
Organisational culture is often considered the “personality” of a company, as it reflects how things are done and the underlying assumptions that guide decision-making and behaviour within the organisation.
Based on the iceberg model by Edward T. Hall, an American anthropologist, Mulomi said that an organisation can shape its culture by addressing its invisible aspects such as employee needs, company management, and how people cooperate.
“Higher employee and customer engagement outcomes include high revenues. When we started engaging our employees, the retention index went higher; we have been profitable year-on-year.”
The Motivation Hub Limited Managing Partner Pepe Minambo said that organisational culture is an X factor in any company’s operations.
Solomy Nasejje Luyombo, the General Manager of Human Resources at Centenary Bank explained that culture has to be personalised, and should have a scorecard for all employees.
“If you have culture and you can not measure it, people will forget easily. Organisational culture is very impactful but you must be purposeful, company executives must take the mantle,” she stated.
She added: “We even rate ourselves, you need to attain a certain level on the organisational culture scorecard, do it repeatedly.”
Irene Nayera, the Hima Cement Human Resource Director said that it’s important for HR practitioners to be strategic partners for organisations and ensure that company aspirations are achieved.