Cultures are self-sustaining and Reinforcing. The Good. And the Bad.......

I really enjoy working with varied organisations and industries. You always learn something new or find a new way to see things. Even within the same industry or satellites of the same parent company, the culture is always unique in some, or many, ways. But broadly, you always see the same 'types'. The 'great' culture where people genuinely enjoy coming to work. The 'ok' cultures where the job serves a purpose, it's ok, no one is really complaining about things, but they aren't jumping out of bed to get to work either. Mostly I see these two 'types'. But. Every now and then you come to 'those' workplaces. And as soon as you meet their 'leadership', you know why they are 'those' ones. The toxic workplace. The highly ineffective workplaces. The 'leadership', that you just want to move away from and conclude your conversation. Or just leave the premises. Or just end the zoom call. Whatever it takes, the endurance. I don't often meet these. They are the ones that usually also don't see any problems to fix or need for improvement. But need it the most. They are the ones that never look under the hood themselves. Insist everything is fine, and why should anyone else look. These are the ones that get 'culture' checks imposed on them. Usually by outside parties. For a reason, or more accurately for many reasons combined.

The 'leadership' that thinks, or likes to portray, they know everything. And is constantly talking over you trying to explain things, and interrupting you. Basic manners are not part of this 'leadership' skill set. Because they know everything (in their head). These are the ones that only have business degrees but will ask a psychologist if they know what they are talking about and throw around words or phrases like 'neuro-rewiring', without the faintest idea what neural plasticity actually is. And frankly, weren't that hot on business management knowledge either.........But won't ask in a genuine 'what is it way'. They'll state in a 'I know EVERYTHING' way that 'neuro-rewiring' is or isn't occurring somewhere or on a platform. Like pretending to read Russian. To a Russian. But convinced that throwing around some googled Russian words will fool the Russian into thinking you speak fluent Russian. Like telling someone else that bow-tie is absolutely fine for psychological risk. Or that one type risk management is one-size-fits-all-and-i'll-make-it. Or actually believing yourself that you are fluent in Russian, cause you believe it!!! Oblivious to the fact that others may choose to not work with them. And this 'Leadership' will have other 'leadership' just like them, because like gravitates to like. It isn't that pretending to know everything is itself a problem. It's the fallout of making decisions based on lack of relevant knowledge. It's the lack of trust and respect people and employees will have for you. It's the lack of integrity displayed. It's the lack of sound judgement. It's the lack of self-awareness and honesty. It's the not admitting you're not a subject matter expert in EVERYTHING. No one expects any one person to know all things at all times. But people who give away their trust, respect, follower-ship and buy-in, expect people to be ABLE to be honest, with themselves, and others.

Because cultures are self-sustaining. Terrible leaders instil terrible cultures. Not on purpose, often. But simply because Healthy and Positive Cultures need basics like, trust, integrity, self-awareness, respect (going both ways) and honesty. Honesty like 'that's not my expertise, tell me about how it works'. Bad leaders instil bad cultures. Dishonesty, lack of trust, lack of 'we' thinking, lack of collaboration, lack of standing up for each other, or the right thing. They run terribly inefficiently and ineffectively. There is huge resource wastage from lack of people and system cohesion and unnecessary risk increase, because 'leadership' thinks they know all there is to know, yet often are the ones that know the least about specific expertise that is relevant to good workplaces. And even worse, these are the types of workplaces that hire others like them, because this is what they are comfortable with. Bad 'leadership' instills bad cultures, that hire more people like them. Those that aren't a fit for this landscape of undesirability, will either leave, because they don't agree/fit with the terrible values and culture, or, with time, turn into these types of people also. Self-sustaining cultures.

But that means the opposite is also true. Healthy workplaces also self-sustain themselves. Those with shared values of trust, respect, integrity, asking for help rather than claiming to 'know everything about everything', cohesion, transparency. These actual leaders, also will hire people like them. And the occasional toxic person will leave because they can't get away with things. Good reinforcing good. And it is the psychosocial culture that establishes this.

Organisations with a Positive Psychosocial Culture recover faster and have greater agility and resilience than those without it. And in times of adversity are far more likely to not only survive but undergo greater innovative breakthroughs to go on to thrive. These are Healthy Workplaces that experience High Performance. Wellbeing does not establish this. Rather Wellbeing is a product of the Psychosocial Culture, amongst other factors such as engagement and burnout and others. They happen as the consequence of the culture, they do not begin it.

Psychosocial Culture is the interface between leadership effectiveness and organisational operations. Measuring & managing Psychosocial Culture indicates how effective leadership is and how effective the culture is GOING to be. Psychosocial Culture is also the predictor Psychological Harm, Psychological Safety and Wellbeing. Manage from the one platform of Psychosocial Culture, and prevent harm to the downstream Legal Organisational Psychological Harm, Team Psychological Safety and Individual Wellbeing.

For A Healthy Workplace. For High Performance.

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The author has had a diverse career spanning organisational development, risk management, operations and governance. She has worked across industries and sectors in UK, Australia and NZ, been an expert panel member for JAS-ANZ Auditor development, a Health & Safety, Compliance & Conformance Lead Auditor, a BSI ISO executive trainer across several varying Standards, and is an Executive Coach and a current Board Director. And Founder of EnableOrg? - Benchmark Corporate Wellness Software & Solutions for High Performance and Healthy Workplaces.

Her PhD research focused on Psychosocial Risk Climate, Wellbeing & Resilience. Qualified in Organisational Behaviour and Positive Psychology, Legislative Health and Safety at Work Act, Health and Safety Risk Management and Auditing.

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