Demystifying Company Culture

In this blog, Nathan Paget, a Director within the Internal Audit Service – Office of the Deputy Governor helps us understand more on the thoughts and benefits behind company culture.

?I am a people person – an odd statement from an Internal Auditor, but I truly am! Incidentally the term ‘Audit’ comes from the Latin ‘Auditus’ which means ‘having been listened to…’ – I like to listen, observe and learn.

People are the most important part of any organisation I have worked in, and understanding people, is in my view, the key to sustainable success and demystifying company culture.

One amazing thing about company culture is that it has a significant impact on employee engagement, productivity, and overall success of the organization. A positive and supportive company culture can attract and retain talented employees, foster innovation and creativity, and promote a sense of community, shared values and inclusion among team members.

I was once told something that has always stuck with me – Diversity is a fact, whilst inclusion is a choice, in that who and what we are is given, and is informed by what we have experienced. Inclusion is a choice - we all make based on factors, to decide if we belong or want to be involved.

So I have always set out to understand the people I come into contact with to make how I work with them more inclusive and beneficial.

The factors that drive inclusive acts are the values and behaviours which at the highest levels of CIG are:

·??????Passion;

·??????Integrity;

·??????Professionalism;

We each have a common alignment with these in different ways, beyond this we each engage in ways that we are comfortable with, my role as a leader is to create the space for this to happen – so how do I do it?

1)?????Modelling the behaviours – Actively demonstrating your support through your actions and decisions is key, your people see it and over time it becomes accepted and normal.

2)?????Create challenge – create an environment where you as a leader challenge and develop your people, but also encourage constructive challenge from your team – you cannot always be right all of the time!

3)?????Bring yourself to work – Beyond our working lives we do other things, but knowing the interests of your team, what they do beyond work is important as you see them more as a person and less as a resource. One of the ways I approach this is to rotate the chair role in our team meetings, each member of the team takes a turn and the first part of the sessions is about them presenting something about them to the rest of the team – you learn a lot about your people this way.

4)?????ALWAYS be approachable – your reactions as a leader are key, how you deal with challenges or difficulties is observed by your people – so remember to model the right responsive behaviours. I remember reading that great leaders deal with difficulties calmly and respond to them with action – this has worked for me.

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So why facilitate company culture, is it worth it?

I have found over my working life, and beyond, that people are more supportive when they feel included, more engaged when they feel empowered and more driven when they feel some ownership. There is better communication, collaboration, and teamwork, which can lead to higher levels of job satisfaction and employee well-being. Beyond all this, having an inclusive company culture generates a tremendous amount of goodwill – and when things go wrong or the arrangements are not perfect, it is usually the goodwill of people that is the glue that holds things together.

What other comments do you have on company culture? Put it in the comments below.? CIG civil servants can then head over to the CIG Learning Corner on the Hub?for online learning recommendations.