IPA Culture
Focus on the culture of the job and the department
IPA Culture provides a structured way to understand and assess company culture. Culture emerges from the interaction between employees’ personal values and the organisation’s history, market position, established habits, and shared assumptions.
The primary purpose of company culture is to support effective problem-solving and learning, enabling the organisation to adapt, grow, and maximise value creation. At the same time, culture can become a barrier if it limits collaboration or prevents the full potential of shared resources from being realised.
What is Corporate Culture?
IPA Culture examines how company culture emerges from the interaction between employees’ personal values and the organisation’s history, market position, established habits, and shared assumptions. Culture shapes how people work together, solve problems, and learn, and it can either enable growth and value creation or limit collaboration and performance.
Company culture is especially important for new employees, who encounter existing norms through the lens of their own values. Their experience can range from feeling immediately at home to feeling a mismatch that affects engagement and motivation.
The culture scales are embedded within IPA JobMatch, using selected questionnaire statements to measure the individual dimensions of company culture. This approach provides a clear and operational understanding of how culture affects performance, collaboration, and organisational alignment.
The Four IPA Culture Traits
Specialist Culture - Blue
This culture values stability, structure, and predictability. Tasks are clearly defined, and success comes from diligence, precision, and adherence to rules and routines. Communication and problem-solving are professional and case-oriented, and employees are expected to focus on their own responsibilities and perform consistently.
Operational Performance Culture - Red
This culture is goal-oriented and rewards individual achievement and results. Employees operate with a high degree of responsibility and freedom, navigating a competitive environment with clear objectives. Performance, determination, and practical problem-solving are highly valued, and success is measured by the impact of results.
Dialogue Culture - Green
This trust-based, process-oriented culture thrives on collaboration, openness, and tolerance. Tasks often require teamwork, social skills, and mutual support. Knowledge sharing, dialogue, and empowering others are key, and success comes from complementing each other’s strengths to achieve outcomes greater than the sum of individual efforts.
Change Culture - Yellow
This culture embraces uncertainty, creativity, and adaptability. Employees operate in fluid environments with few rules, taking initiative to find solutions and navigate complexity. Innovation, strategic thinking, and personal development are highly valued, and success is driven by the ability to create, experiment, and realise one’s full potential.
