Beyond the Office Everydayness; Workplace Culture and Values
We dedicate almost half of our daily lives to work, and as a result, our experiences are profoundly shaped by the happenings inside the workplace. Whether it is the usual interactions with colleagues, the challenges we face, or the lessons we learn, these moments contribute to molding our daily lives and influencing both our personal and professional journeys. This is why going to work should transcend the mere physical presence within the confines of an office. At its essence, work should extend beyond the routine of ticking off tasks from a to-do list and responding to emails in the early hours of the day. A thriving work environment should be a place that caters to the sense of curiosity and creativity of each individual, creating a space where meaningful work and lasting connections naturally unfold.
However, this ideal can only be realized within the framework of a culture that radiates the values an organization aspires to embody. This cultural framework serves as the standard, defining what a healthy workplace stands for and envisions; it is the essential construct that lays the groundwork for an organization’s identity and growth. With a commitment to these ideals, Dana Energy’s cultural framework has been in the making for several years and has finally come to fruition, bringing us to a pivotal juncture in our organizational development.
To achieve our envisioned goals, we first began by assessing our cultural status to gain a thorough understanding of our current position. Following this assessment, we conducted extensive interviews and surveys across the corporation, performed in-depth research, and carried out data-driven analysis in search of the best model and cultural principles that would best serve our goals. We then aligned the findings with Dana Energy’s overarching corporate strategy to ensure both frameworks well integrate with one another, creating a cohesive synergy for long-term success.
Despite being prolonged and demanding, this research process deepened our understanding of our corporate culture and also taught us a thing or two about who we are as a corporation and where we are heading. One of the findings was that we view corporate culture as an umbrella concept—a holistic paradigm in other words—that in itself includes our values, leadership codes, and code of conduct. The harmony and integration of these principles together will shape the well-functioning, professional, and healthy culture that we are striving for.
Naturally, our findings could not have remained purely theoretical; they needed a practical platform for maximum impact. Hence, the initiation of our culture campaign, serving as an awareness phase and a prerequisite for the forthcoming months that will solidify the chain of our corporate culture. In this regard, the workshops on Cultural Codes at Dana Energy, led by Ms. Sogand Sabourian, have played a pivotal role in effectively spreading these principles across the organization. Conducted at both our headquarters and operational sites, these workshops, totaling more than 2,500 hours of educational time, and engaging over 900 participants, have demonstrated our commitment to advancing our organizational culture.
As a tangible reminder of these guiding principles, a carefully crafted booklet has been distributed to all employees, representing a lasting and accessible reference to our organizational ethos, and ensuring that these principles remain readily available for everyone.
In any successful company, a central goal is to create a culture where the collective “we” actively works in alignment with shared organizational objectives, all the while experiencing personal growth and thriving within a culture that facilitates such development. We recognize that these ideals might not materialize quickly and flawlessly, but we embrace our imperfections and consistently strive to stay on the right track toward improvement.
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