Shhhhhh……. The Company Culture Secret

Behaviour, Culture, Leadership, PM Guy, Stakeholders, , , ,

I have been privileged to have been shown many lessons learnt from my work over the last 10 years. It is amazing how almost immediately upon arriving you can tell a lot about the project and the way it is led. You get an instant feel for the organisation.

I’ve regularly visited two companies in the same industry, drawing on the same demographic of experienced professionals. While one company feels energetic, engaged, inclusive and inspired, the other cold, divided, apathetic and political. While one you’d openly want to promote to other professionals, the other you’d be encouraging them to think carefully about it.

You immediately get an impression.  The ‘Secret’ I am referring to is the CULTURE. The word culture is tossed around a lot. Culture enormously influences the likely success of an organisation and the level of engagement of those who are part of it.

Simply put, Culture is made up of the following:

• Artefacts – the objects and items renowned in an organisation which would be of a cultural interest if dug up in 100 years’ time.

• Rituals – the traditions of the Company.

• Stories & Myths – the recounting of events and experiences in the history of the organisation which are passed forward to new teammates. Humorous anecdotes from best and worst experiences we’ve had during programs.

• Rules – the expectations on behaviour and performance.

• Values – the foundations for which the culture is built and the principles which will be fought for. This includes a desire to surprise and delight people, valuing people and relationships, a desire for growth and continual improvement, sacrifice and hard work, integrity, being adaptable and taking responsibility.

One great success story on culture that has influenced my perspective is on the online US Shoe Company, Zappos. CEO, Tony Hsieh believes “if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff will just happen naturally on its own.” In 2009 Amazon acquired Zappos for more than $1 billion for the culture of the business.

Some things I’ve learnt about building culture:

BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT CULTURE – Developing culture is not a one-time single-fix thing. It is not something you can mention once in a speech and expect everyone to jump on board. If you want culture to matter in your organisation, it needs to be part of everything you do and part of every function of the organisation. It needs to be valued by the leaders. At RG, culture is given 50% weighting in our performance assessments right alongside meeting key output and strategic targets.

CLARITY BREEDS COMMITMENT – Culture may be perceived as being the fluffy stuff of a team or in a business. I would argue culture is the foundation upon which to build a vision. Building or changing culture requires clarity. When people have clarity and an understanding of what is required and hoped for, it breeds a commitment to the cause. Ensuring consistency of action and communication will promote clarity.

CULTURE CAN CHANGE – Changing culture may be one of the toughest challenges of leadership, but don’t despair it is possible. There is hope! The culture of a team or institution today can change and improve over time but it requires a commitment to and buy-in from the leaders and a willingness to make tough decisions to show what is being fought for. You need to win the hearts and minds of those you are leading in order to impact culture.

WHAT YOU PERMIT, YOU PROMOTE – Leaders set the culture and influence it. Anything you permit to exist within your team, you are effectively promoting. If you see behaviour that is not acceptable you need to speak up about it and take action, otherwise you are encouraging its acceptance. This point deserves an article all on its own. Wait till next week.

And finally a book I believe is worth a read is, “Delivering Happiness – a path to profits, passion and purpose” by Hsieh is definitely worth a read.

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