????盡管如此，重視文化依然是一個很好的跡象。“最適合工作的公司”榜單記錄了那些關心員工，并且在人性化管理方面取得重大進步的公司。但企業界的各位同仁還需要繼續努力，還要去完成艱難的文化建設工作。

????第一步是進行“大掃除”，拋棄過時的舊思維模式。

????“多少”這個問題一直在困擾著企業、政治和我們的個人生活：我們可以將多少收入記入這個季度？可以承受多少債務？可以實現多大程度的增長？

????但在這樣一個日新月異，聯系日益密切的世界中，通過擴大生產、加大開支或增加銷售已經無法保持競爭優勢，因此，有關“多少”的問題已不合時宜。所以，我們不能條件反射般地詢問“多少”，還應該有更深入地思考。不僅要問“我們可以為新午休室提供多大面積？”還要問“我們的公司有多透明？”或者“我們的決策過程有多公平？”如果你的公司真的是一個“適合”工作的地方，你便不能僅衡量“多少”，還要衡量“如何”創造出能夠體現信任、合作、樂觀與自由等人類深層價值的組織、社會、機構和公司。

????一家處在增長期的研究機構告訴我們，這件事現在變得越來越重要。

????科爾文在文章中提到沃頓商學院的一篇分析報告。該報告顯示，在《財富》最適宜工作的公司榜單（1984年至2009年）中，許多上市公司每年的風險調整后收益率超出預期3.5%。我執掌的LRN公司對“如何”指標的研究顯示，在擁有高度信任和價值導向文化的公司，93%的員工財務業績優于競爭對手；而在低信任度的公司中，僅48%的員工有同樣的表現。

????如今，許多機構已經開始指出工作環境與文化的重要性，比如四大會計事務所、科技巨頭、頂級商學院、商業刊物，甚至還包括詞典出版商。但承認好的工作場所的重要性相對簡單。任何人都可以買一張乒乓球桌放在休息室里，或在周五運來一車啤酒。為公司建設合適的文化需要經過多年努力，因為你必須從頭開始，自己去建設文化的每一個方面。致力于建設合適公司文化的領導者，最好做好吃苦頭的準備：這并不是個容易的過程，也不是膽小者能夠承擔的任務。

????但我們可以并且必須深入思考。我們的集體思維與行為大多只涉及文化的表面；核心應該是員工與公司的文化。一個好的工作場所無法保證公司與客戶、投資者、社區和環境建立良好的關系。好的工作/生活質量（這幾乎所有人都想要的）也不見得能夠帶來高質量的員工-雇主關系。因此，我們必須提一些會令人不適的深層問題：我們的公司有多高的可信度？我們如何在公司內傳播和灌輸一種價值觀？

????諸如《財富》“最適宜工作的公司”榜單這類努力讓我們知道，除了收益、股東價值和市場份額，我們還有其他方式來衡量一家公司。既然我們已經開始從其他角度衡量公司，不妨直接觸及核心問題。建設“合適的”公司文化需要我們承認和衡量“合適的”基礎元素，例如：

????? 能激勵員工和促進文化的組織目標；

?????能激勵員工和提高員工行為的領導者；

????? 最人性化和最可持續的公司價值，即承認公司是一個更深層次的人類事業，需要員工和利益相關者通過健康持久的方式共同努力；

????? 可帶來信任的行為；

????? 承認建設合適的文化需要經過一個漫長的過程，這個過程值得我們要求公司員工為之做出貢獻、表達忠誠。

????使用一種帶有目的性、戰略性，并經過深思熟慮的方式管理文化，要求我們觸動人類的本質，即從根本上持續促使我們每天早上從床上爬起來，引導我們過好每天生活的動力。建設或重建公司文化沒有捷徑。你不可能召開一次研討會或張貼一張海報，便認為萬事大吉。亞里士多德說過，人的優秀是一種習慣，而不是一次行為，這種說法同樣適用于公司。最終的贏家必須開始培養和加強這些好習慣，因為大多數公司現在都知道如何創造好的工作場所。最好的公司之所以能夠脫穎而出，是因為它們的領導者知道，一個好的工作場所與一個合適的工作場所是有區別的。（財富中文網）

????本文作者多弗?塞德曼為LRN公司首席執行官，該機構旨在幫助公司培養價值導向的文化與領導力，加強道德與合規工作。他還著有《成功企業的尺度》（HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything）一書。

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????審校：任文科

????That said, any emphasis on culture is a promising sign. The “Best Companies to Work For” list chronicles companies that care about their people and have taken immense strides toward humanity. But those of us in the corporate world have far more progress – and difficult culture-building work – ahead of us.

????The first step in this work is cleaning house and getting rid of the ghosts of old and outdated thinking.

????The words “how much” have always haunted business, politics and our personal lives: How much revenue can we squeeze into this quarter? How much debt can we tolerate? How much growth can we generate?

????But “how much” questions aren’t the right questions – not in an ever changing, increasingly interconnected world, and not in a business realm where competitive advantage cannot be sustained via out-producing, outspending or out-selling. Instead of reflexively asking “how much,” we should examine “how”. Not just “How much square footage can we afford for the new nap room?” but “How transparent is our company?” or “How fair is our decision making process?” If your company is really the “right” place to work, you don’t just measure “how much”, your measure “how” to create organizations, societies, institutions and businesses that mirror our deepest values: trust, collaboration, resiliency, and freedom.

????A growing body of research shows us that it is exactly the sort of work that is now more important than ever.

????In his article, Colvin points to a Wharton analysis showing that a portfolio of publicly listed organizations on Fortune’s Best Companies list (from 1984 until 2009) surpassed its expected rate of risk-adjusted return by 3.5 percent annually. My own firm LRN’s research into “How” metrics, indicates that 93% of employees at businesses with high-trust and values-based cultures observe financial performance greater than their competitors; only 48% of those at low-trust organizations observe the same.

????I appreciate that so many different entities—Big 4 accounting firms, tech giants, top B-schools, business publications and even dictionary publishers— are beginning to point to the importance of workplace environment and culture. But recognizing the importance of a great workplace is comparatively easy. Anyone can buy a Ping-Pong table for the break room or bring in a beer cart on Fridays. Building the right culture in your business takes years of hard work, because you have to build every facet of it for yourself— from the ground up. Leaders who commit to building the right culture better prepare to take their lumps: it isn’t easy, and it isn’t or the faint of heart.

????But we can, and need to, go deeper. Most of our collective thinking and doing has barely scratched culture’s surface; it focuses primarily on the relationship between employee and company. A great workplace does not guarantee that the company has great relationships with its customers, investors, communities or the environment. Nor does a high work/life quality (something nearly all of us would very much want) necessarily bring about a high-quality employee-employer relationship. For that, deep, uncomfortable questions need to be asked: how trustworthy is our company? How do we convey and instill a sense of values throughout our organization?

????Efforts like Fortune’s “Best Companies to Work For” list have helped show us that we can measure organizations in ways that extend beyond revenue, shareholder value and market share. Now that we’re doing this, we might as well go all the way to the core. Building the “right” kind of organizational culture requires us to recognize and measure the “right” foundational elements, such as:

????? An organizational purpose that inspires employees and animates the culture;

????? Leaders who also inspire employees and elevate their behavior;

????? The most human and sustainable organizational values that recognize business as a deeply human endeavor and that call for employees and stakeholders to endeavor together in a healthy and long-standing way;

????? Behaviors that generate trust;

????? A recognition that building the right kind of culture requires a journey, one worthy of the dedication and loyalty we ask of the humans who work for our companies.

????Managing culture in an intentional, strategic and deliberate way requires us to get to the human core: that which fundamentally and enduringly gets us out of bed in the morning and guides us through our days and lives. There is no short cut for building or rebuilding a corporate culture. You can’t just hold a seminar or put up a poster and call the problem solved. What Aristotle said about an individual’s excellence – that it is not a single act, but a habit – applies to organizations as well. The ultimate winners will start developing and strengthening these habits because most companies now know how to make great workplaces. What distinguishes the best organizations from the rest of the pack, are leaders who understand the depth that separates a great place to work from the right place to work.

????Dov Seidman is the chief executive of LRN, a company that helps corporations develop values-based cultures and leadership, strengthen their ethics and compliance efforts. He is also the author of HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything.