I think we can all agree that a positive organizational culture is good for business: It makes people more productive, it ensures that top performers want to join the organization, it reduces turnover, and it has an important halo effect on the consumer brand.
And a positive culture is palpable. We can all think of times when we’ve walked into an organization and the ‘buzz’ is unmistakeable. People seem friendly, there’s a hum of activity, and you think to yourself: “This is a business that’s really going places.”
It’s easy to think that this ‘buzz’ is organic, a natural outgrowth of an accidentally great group of people or set of economic conditions which favor the product/service the company is selling. But nothing could be further from the truth.
People who are happy in the workplace tend to communicate that happiness to visitors, and it’s hard to fake a positive ‘vibe’. However, in an economy where people rarely stay in one job for more than 7 years (and often change jobs every 2-3 years), organizations can’t rely on accidentally assembling a good group of people who will maintain a positive culture over the long term. The culture needs to be bigger than any single person or team in order to survive.
So how do you ensure that your positive culture seems unforced but also survives today’s job transiency? Here are 5 tips:
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To thine own self be true. The reason the best cultures seem organic is because they’re based on the actual values and personality of the organization. Trying to impose a free-wheeling entrepreneurial culture on a blue-chip investment firm isn’t going to work – and it isn’t going to deliver the benefits you want, anyway.- Recognize that a ‘culture strategy’ is just as important as a sales strategy or human capital strategy. Your sales team won’t just ‘accidentally’ exceed their targets this year unless you establish a plan to get there; your organizational culture needs the same attention.
- Remember that a great culture can’t reside in a single person or team. Smaller companies and functional teams often think they’ve got a great dynamic going on – until one or two of the linchpin people leave, and the rest of the team sort of falls apart. Yes, some people will naturally have more of an effect on your workplace than others, but culture needs to be embedded across the organization in order to survive in the long term.
- Be clear and specific. It’s not enough to sort of vaguely say, “We stand for, um, good service and ethics…” once a year at the company Christmas party. You need to articulate core values and attitudes, and what this means for employee behavior, in order to foster hte actions that lead to a positive culture.
- Great cultures require a sustained effort. Want to launch your new-and-improved corporate culture at a big all-employee rah-rah event? Fantastic – but don’t assume that a single event, no matter how exciting, will be sufficient. As employees come and go over time, you need to ensure that culture-building activities, large and small, are going on all the time, from appropriate onboarding for new employees to monthly updates for long-term employees.
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Me too Mary. I hope too. I’m still amazed, however, how many leaders I meet that don’t understand what it actually takes to implement a culture strategy. Most want but few are willing to do the work.
Thanks for the article. I hope that leaders recognize the need for a culture strategy and also recognize that it takes time to implement.