Culture: A Toxic Buzzword for the Workplace

The word “culture” is one that we see and hear all the time in relation to the workplace. We see it in LinkedIn posts and Medium articles touting the benefits of a good company culture. We see it on the career pages of company websites promoting their culture as a means of recruitment. We’ve heard corporate leaders and managers use the loss of culture as a justification for bringing remote employees back into the office. And, we have heard news accounts of companies like Blizzard and WeWork that had cultures that seemed to encourage binge drinking and sexist behavior.

There is something about the term “workplace culture” that strikes me as very buzz-wordy. We throw this word around without much thought as to what the implications are for a company’s employees and their relationship with leadership.

Sure, I get it. Culture sounds much more inviting and less robotic than “workplace environment.” We spend a large majority of our time at work, so there is a good reason to apply a word that has a positive connotation and a desire to elevate work beyond something you do purely as a means to collect a paycheck.

Culture Encouraging Cultishness

Culture is a word that has deep, intrinsic meaning for most individuals. Many would say that their cultural background is at the core of their identity. It encompasses the food they eat, the clothes they wear, their traditions, values and beliefs. Their culture has been shaped by and has endured through generations. A person can identify with and be a member of a culture, even if they move or are separated from others of that culture.

The same cannot quite be said of company culture. One is only part of that culture for as long they are employed by that company. My boomer father who worked for the same company for his entire career would say his job was a part of his identity — but when the average employee now only stays at a company between 4–5 years, it seems that the word culture isn’t the greatest fit for something that now is so fleeting for most people.

Yes, most companies strive to create an environment where the actions and values endure beyond any one person or group of people and some are even successful. But, there are many companies — like WeWork, Blizzard, Uber — that leaned heavily on this whole culture thing only to be revealed that the environment they created was toxic.

Leaders set the tone and hired those who perpetuated abusive behaviors. They invoked culture and produced group-think — a manipulation to create conformity. When a workplace is elevated to something as important as one’s family, upbringing and even religion — it can be hard for an employee to set boundaries, to notice the red flags, to speak out against the group when there are problems.

When problems finally hit a tipping point where they can no longer be ignored, leaders are often replaced and the environment dramatically changes to the point that it no longer is the same workplace in attitude.

A real culture’s existence doesn’t rest on just a few individuals.

Ok, great, we’ve established that culture isn’t the greatest word to apply to the workplace. So, what word can we use instead that is more accurate, while making those job postings more enticing and recruiters happy?

A Better Word

How about community?

Community and culture are often used interchangeably, but there are some distinct differences. While there are many communities that formed organically and evolved over time like a culture, they aren’t as broad or vague in nature. People within a culture can have different interests and goals, whereas members of a community are more focused on a place, a goal or a common interest.

A community can be goal-oriented like a business. One can be a part of a community, but there isn’t the same expectation that it is forever or an all-encompassing part of one’s life. Communities can be flexible and adaptable as businesses are expected to be. They can pivot quickly to changing needs. And finally, communities can be organized in a way that sets rules and boundaries with the goal of preventing toxic behaviors and drawing the line between work and personal life.

At work, I can take pride that I am a part of a community while knowing that it doesn’t have to exist in every facet of my life.