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Creating Positive Corporate Culture Change Why The Managers Role Is So Critical
What does the word culture mean to you?
What does the word culture mean to you?If someone asked you to describe the culture of your team or organization, how would you answer them?
Not sure how youd answer? Maybe youve never really thought about it that much and you wouldnt be alone. And yet every day, in hundreds of organizations youll hear people talk about:
Oh yeah.... they (the managers) talk about having an open door, and wanting to listen, but thats just talk. They only listen to what they want to hear.
Staff survey? Oh yes we have one of those every year. What do I think of it? (Shrug) Tick box exercise isnt it? Got to look as though theyre (the managers) listening; but doesnt matter what we feed back, nothing changes. Whats the point?
They just keep piling on one change after the other; no-one asks us what we think.
I just keep my head down; stay out of trouble and collect my pay cheque at the end of the month. Most of us do.
No one thanks you for what you do here.
Some staff get away with murder; depends who you are and who you know here, not how good you are or how hard you work. In fact, more you do here, more they take advantage. Wont catch me being a mug, thats for sure.
Manager here acts like a mini Hitler: everyones looking for a way out.
I hate it here: full of gossips; cliques and moaners.
I havent made these up: real people, in real companies, have been describing real situations in their workplaces. This is how they see it and they dont see it too positively either!
And what theyre describing, even if they dont call it that, is the corporate culture in which they work. And if thats how theyre describing it, just how good do you reckon the performance is in that team or organization? Guess you wouldnt have to be Einstein to know its not particularly good.
One definition of culture I found in wikipiedia was:
Culture the set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group.
Im a simple soul: rather than talk about the culture of my team, I like to call it: the way we do things around here. However you call it, it boils down to the same thing: a way of behaving, which everyone understands, agrees to, and adheres to. Its about setting boundaries, and expectations which apply to all, and which, if flouted, result in decisive and corrective action.
In some cultures, particularly those like the ones described above, those cultures have just developed, unchecked, over time. No-one necessarily wanted the culture full of gossips and cliques for example, but because no-one has set expectations about standards of behaviour, or consistently and systematically encouraged certain behaviours and attitudes, whatever does emerge, usually emerges as a result of whoever are the most influential leaders within that team or group. Ive come across a number of occasions where a single individual is adversely affecting a whole group of others, and little is being done about it. The problem is, of course, whilst ever this is going on, performance is no-where near what it could be. High performing companies do believe in agreeing values and behaviours; theres often much time spent deliberating and agreeing what those standards are going to be; and even much time and energy into finding ways of communicating this across the whole organisation which is great. Youre defining your corporate culture.
But, in my opinion, the bigger the organisation, the more the role of delivering on those values falls down to one person: the manager.
Think of it as a nation: there are national values, beliefs and attitudes, but the role of seeing those values communicated, passed on, monitored and lived out falls down to a much, much smaller unit; the family. And the responsibility within that unit? The parents.
Within each large organization are dozens of families in the form of teams; and heading up those teams: the manager.
Some thorough, and fascinating research by Gallup has shown that, despite being given the same resources, demographics and support, two retail outlets could achieve totally different results: one outlet overachieving, the other failing significantly.
Why?
It was down to the managers. More importantly, it was down to the culture of the teams. The way we do things around here for the top performing teams, was very different to the way we do things around here for the poorly performing teams and it was the managers who were creating the way we do things around here.
So what are the most actively expressed attitudes, values, goals and practices in YOUR team or organization? What do you think your team say about YOU when youre not there? What reputation do you think you have, or are you building as a team manager or organization, and is that reputation helping or hindering team performance?
The problem is, often managers find themselves managing with little or no training or experience in managing others, and either havent even thought of culture as an issue, or if they have, lack the confidence or knowledge which would help them create the culture they want to see in their team.
Can you turn around a culture where gossips, cliques, distrust and apathy are the norm? Can you build cultures where people are positive about change; have can do attitudes, rarely gossip, and talk positively about management and their own roles?
Most certainly. Some outstanding managers do this day in, day out no matter which team they lead, or which organization they work for.
But managers need the tools, the support, and the know-how, to learn how to build positive workplace cultures. This isnt just about coming up with a few well-chosen words about were honest, open, hard-working or whatever.
Its about understanding how to turn those desired values, beliefs and attitudes into reality through every day behaviours. Its about what you do, regularly & consistently to make those goals real for everyone on your team.
So take a moment to think about what behaviours and attitudes you want to create in your team, and once youve done, consider what you need to DO to make those behaviours and attitudes a reality.
Copyright (c) 2009 Shona Garner
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