Are you steering your company's culture, or just coping with it?
A tech company CEO told me the other day, "I wish I’d taken some psychology classes during my degree in computer science." He’s not alone in feeling snowed under by the complex interpersonal dynamics that companies have to manage these days. The National Bureau of Economic Research found that while 94% of CEOs believe that improving their culture would strengthen their bottom line, only 16% think their culture is on the right track.
If you’re looking for ways to help your company culture emerge from the impacts of the pandemic, where can you start? Having worked in companies with widely different cultures, I've learned that a great first step is to establish a shared framework of concepts and vocabulary that we can use to discuss organizational culture. When we do, it becomes possible to use culture to accelerate our strategy.
For example, a new software company was expanding from its founding team of leaders and contractors. In one month, it doubled its number of employees to expand its product development, marketing, customer services and operations. The chief executive realized that for the next few years, its business strategy would require a high level of problem-solving and innovation at all levels. They knew that the company needed to become a place where everyone was empowered to innovate. It was essential that empowerment not just be "a word on the wall," but be embedded in the new culture as it evolved in the coming weeks and months.
To get a strong start, within a few weeks of the new employees joining the company, we took the whole team away from their work routine for a two-day workshop that included discussions about developing our company culture. Not only did this getaway help both legacy and new employees to bond, but the investment communicated to everyone how important culture would be for our business success. The time commitment also modelled the expectation that every employee was needed to help build a culture of empowerment.
One of the tools introduced at the workshop was the SCARF model of the neuroscience behind motivation. It provided five themes of focus for building empowerment in teams. After the workshop, we hosted a quarterly roundtable where employees used this set of concepts to discuss their developing culture. Working through the five elements of the SCARF model provided a good start so that the group could form a vision of shared expectations in their work together.
With that foundation, we could move to explore other topics relevant for the group such as coaching skills. Insights from these discussions led to individuals and teams setting practical, achievable goals to strengthen empowerment. The cultural norms of agility and problem-solving they built resulted in the successful development and launch of the company's first products.
This story demonstrates that when you and your people can talk about culture, you can accelerate positive shifts in the direction you want the culture to grow. Your People & Culture and executive teams will be key champions and change leaders for creating these business advantages. As they grow in confidence as architects of change, you'll create positive cycles that reinforce and develop a healthy, inclusive, collaborative and innovative organization where everyone feels they can belong.
Take a step this month to have conversations at work about culture. What are the real norms that guide and reward behaviours, and do those cultural norms support your business strategy?
GrowthPoints:
Believe that you can build the culture your company needs to succeed.
A company's culture changes as it grows, and it is influenced most of all by action and example.
Practical, neuroscience-based factors are at work in your organization making it a healthy, efficient, inclusive, innovative place (or not).
A great first step is to establish a shared framework of concepts and vocabulary that you can use to discuss organizational culture.
When your people understand and can talk about culture, you can accelerate positive shifts in the direction you want the culture to grow.
By cultivating effective behavioral norms, you can successfully manage challenges.