Many organizations do not consider how their fundamental corporate strategy impacts their selection of an appropriate strategic human resource management approach. And, many are not able to clearly articulate their corporate culture. Both of these issues can lead to ineffective recruiting and a resulting high turnover rate. How do you define your culture? You can start to identify the beliefs and assumptions that are present in the organization. This is especially critical when you are trying to implement change in any area of your organization. Unless you can identify the core beliefs people have about a particular issue, and change those core beliefs, the behaviour of your people will not change. You can look at the symbols that the organization uses to define itself and take note of who receives accolades within the company and for what reasons. Whatever behaviour you reward will be repeated. The question is whether you are rewarding the right behaviour. One of the best ways to define your culture is to get groups of employees together and ask them to think about the organization as if it was a person, and use adjectives to describe that person. Be sure to ask them for both positive and negative adjectives. You may be shocked at the result. Once a list of adjectives is created there will be some you want to keep and enhance, and others that you want to eliminate. The cultural aspects of your organization are habits. And, like any habit, they cannot be eliminated, but they can be replaced with better, more productive ones. Once you begin to make shifts in your culture and develop one that values employees and their ideas more, the less turnover you will experience. It is also key to nurture a culture of achievement. Many organizations try to focus on improving employee satisfaction to improve their culture, and increase productivity. While these efforts are well meaning, they are usually ineffective, and is like putting the cart before the horse. You need employees to be more than just satisfied with their jobs and the company. They need to be committed and engaged. They need to feel pride in their work and the contributions they make on a daily basis. An important notion to remember is that there is little research that supports the notion that satisfied employees are more productive. There is a much stronger body of research that indicates that employees who feel productive, engaged, and committed are much more satisfied. The onus is on the leadership of an organization to make that happen. A powerful thought we should consider is, "You manage things. You lead people." This simple statement is full of implications. To lead we must respect others, leave our egos at the door, and be the change we want to see in the organizations we lead. Copyright 2007, Thomas Stirr and Thomas-Ritt Associates Limited. All rights reserved. No use, duplication or reproduction of any kind without the express written consent of Thomas-Ritt Associates Limited. This article has been used with permission by TEAM Truck Centres.