Global Company Culture Month

United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, India, Singapore, South Africa

About

Global Company Culture Month is observed throughout September as a time to recognize the values, traditions, and everyday practices that shape workplaces around the world. It celebrates the ways organizations create environments where people feel respected, included, supported, and connected to a shared purpose.

Throughout the month, companies and employees are encouraged to reflect on what makes their workplace culture meaningful and consider how it can grow stronger. From open communication and collaboration to recognition, well-being, and respect for diverse perspectives, Global Company Culture Month highlights the important role culture plays in helping people and organizations thrive.

History

Global Company Culture Month is observed throughout September as a period for recognizing the importance of workplace culture in organizations around the world. Its focus reflects the growing understanding that a company’s culture includes more than policies or office traditions: it encompasses shared values, leadership practices, communication styles, collaboration, inclusion, and the everyday experiences of employees. The observance encourages businesses to consider how these elements shape morale, productivity, retention, and organizational identity.

The observance emerged from broader changes in the way employers and employees understand the workplace. During the late twentieth century, business discussions increasingly examined organizational culture as a factor in performance and employee satisfaction. In the twenty-first century, attention to company culture expanded further as workplaces became more global, digitally connected, and diverse. Issues such as employee well-being, belonging, flexible work, ethical leadership, and psychological safety helped make culture a central subject in discussions about responsible management.

Over time, Global Company Culture Month has developed into an opportunity for organizations to assess whether their stated values are reflected in daily practice. Companies may use the month to gather employee feedback, recognize contributions, review internal communication, promote professional development, or examine their approaches to diversity and inclusion. These activities emphasize that culture is not created solely by executives or written statements; it is continually shaped by interactions among employees, managers, customers, and communities.

The observance also has wider cultural significance because it presents workplace culture as a shared responsibility rather than a private concern of individual companies. In an international economy, organizations bring together people with different national, social, and professional backgrounds, making mutual respect and clear values especially important. By setting aside the whole of September for reflection and discussion, Global Company Culture Month draws attention to the connection between healthy workplaces, effective organizations, and the broader communities in which they operate.

Timeline

1924
The Hawthorne studies began at Western Electric's Hawthorne Works in Illinois. Their findings helped spur attention to how social relationships, supervision, and workplace conditions affect employee behavior.
1960
Douglas McGregor published The Human Side of Enterprise, presenting Theory X and Theory Y management assumptions. The work became influential in discussions of leadership practices and employee-centered organizational culture.
1979
Andrew M. Pettigrew published "On Studying Organizational Cultures" in Administrative Science Quarterly. It was an early influential academic treatment of organizational culture as a subject of management research.
1982
Terrence E. Deal and Allan A. Kennedy published Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life, bringing the idea of corporate culture to a broad management audience.
1985
Edgar H. Schein published the first edition of Organizational Culture and Leadership, a foundational work defining organizational culture through shared assumptions, values, and artifacts.

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