At its most basic, organisational culture is about the values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that employees share and use on a daily basis at work. It is what drives decisions and actions, affects customer experience, and ultimately the overall performance of an organisation.

Many factors are involved in establishing the culture of an organisation, not least the approach and behaviours of the Board and executive team, coupled with the relevant regulatory and governance framework. We believe that the ownership structure of a business is also fundamental.

Exploring culture in building societies, we wanted to find out more about the impact that the ownership structure has on culture as seen through the eyes of employees. Do building society employees know and understand what working in a customer-owned organisation means? What difference does it make to their working environment, behaviour and approach to customers and the broader range of stakeholders who benefit from the business? And how does this differ when compared with other sectors?

Download the survey report here.