Culture Management

Leaders in every workplace talk about ‘organisational culture’, that mysterious catchphrase that characterises a working environment.  But what is it? How is it created?  How is it managed?  And most importantly, why does it matter?

On a basic level, culture is the ‘personality’ of your organisation.  As we know, an individual’s personality is influenced by their values, beliefs, assumptions, interests and experiences.  Similarly an organisation’s personality is influenced by these traits, which are brought to the workplace by employees.  Values and beliefs create the foundation of any organisational culture, while behaviour is the observable and measurable manifestation of culture.

Any organisation’s culture is made up of the life experiences that each employee brings with them into the organisation.  Culture is particularly influenced by the organisation’s founder, executives and senior leadership because of their influence on decision making and strategic direction.  Workplace culture is often may be represented in the organisation’s language, symbols, stories and daily work practices.

Culture is managed, first and foremost, through recruitment and retention of individuals who are aligned culturally with the organisation.  Recruiting an individual who is not a ‘good fit’ has the potential to be costly, both financially and culturally.   A thorough recruitment process will focus on both technical ability and cultural alignment.  Whilst a skill deficiency can be addressed through training and coaching, poor behaviour which demonstrates cultural misalignment is much harder to shift.

If you are working with a recruitment consultant, work closely with them and ensure they thoroughly understand the current environment and the culture you aim to create or maintain.  The key to successful recruitment is to accurately assess a candidate’s culture fit through targeted questions but also observe behaviour and listen to what is not being said.  Ask for feedback on how the candidate interacts with reception staff as an indication of their approach to relationship management.  Some examples of questions which may support cultural alignment include:

When were you most satisfied or dissatisfied working in a company?

What was it about the company that made it satisfying/dissatisfying?

Tell me about a time when work would have been more enjoyable if some characteristic of the company had been different (e.g. policies, environment, and structure).

Reference checking is a valuable tool for gauging how the candidate fit in with previous organisations.  Focus on areas which will further your understanding of the cultural alignment or otherwise of the candidate.   You may wish to explore the candidate’s adaptability to change, ability to challenge the status quo, proficiency relationship building and teamwork.

A well structured induction program will assist new employees in understanding your workplace culture and aligning their behaviours accordingly.  Finally use the probationary period to your advantage – take the time to observe and assess how the candidate is engaging with both managers and peers.

An organisations core values often represent a workplace culture in a high level summary.  Senior leaders and key stakeholders can spend days and weeks consulting with staff and workshopping values only to have them sit on a notice board in the tea room.  To be effective, culture and specifically organisational values must be lived and breathed by staff.  Starting at the top, senior leaders must champion culture and align their behaviours and decision making to culture.  Performance should be managed and appraised against organisational values, with a satisfactory result becoming a hurdle to performance related pay.  On a daily basis employees should be rewarded for exemplary behaviour and held accountable for any actions which do not support culture.

So, at the end of the day, why does any of this matter?

Research, in conjunction with our experience, shows that commitment to a role, loyalty to the organisation, effort, creativity, ambition and performance are all directly impacted by the a team or workplace culture.  There is evidence to suggest that one of the greatest drivers of poor performance and job dissatisfaction is a lack of fit with organisational culture.  It’s also widely accepted that many individuals leave an organisation, not because of the role that they perform, but because of the relationship that they have with their manager, colleagues or the organisation as a whole.