Let’s stop talking about culture like it’s a “thing”

How many of us have been in an interview and asked “what’s the culture really like here?” only to be met with the same bland answer “it’s great, there is a family feel and the people are all lovely”.

That’s not culture.

Culture is a collective set of beliefs, behaviours and ideas that binds people together. It includes a common language and rituals that define a group as belonging. In an organisation, the culture is what makes it unique to other businesses doing the same thing, and should support driving competitive advantage through clear differentiation. The culture should be felt by all employees and in turn, everyone that interacts with them including customers and partners.

Corporate Culture is ‘our’ way of doing business that flows from the top, but lives in the habits of all.

FOLLOW THE LEADER

Recent research by Stanford university purports that culture is set from the top, and the type of CEO that leads an organisation directly influences the culture through their stylistic preferences.

A quote from the article- "What we’re suggesting in this article is that skill sets and experience are important, but that it’s also probably worthwhile thinking about what the personality of the individual is,” O’Reilly says. “The intuition is that culture and strategy need to fit, and therefore personality needs to fit as well.”

I have long believed that different types of leaders are required depending on the situation and operating context, which is a view that the research supports: “A personality of a leader that might work in one situation might be exactly the wrong personality in another situation - Leaders who are very open-minded and creative can be great for companies whose strategy is to be innovative. They could be terrible in companies where the strategy is to be cost-conscious and incremental. Openness has the most significant, positive association with an innovation-oriented culture — an important feature of companies that can adapt in the face of change”.

What can’t be disputed is the strong link between strategy and culture, and that culture is as controllable as strategy - sure, it takes work and commitment to create alignment between these two critical components, but the rewards are worth it. Culture is the organisation’s ambition into action, and should be an integral part of any strategic conversations.

Leaders who focus on the day to day and invest all their time and energy reacting to the immediate concerns of operational challenges without lifting their heads to balance and consider the longer term horizon do so perilously, and culture becomes one of the casualties.

CREATING A CULTURE FOR SUCCESS

Not all organisations have the same culture, and neither should they. Aligning to the strategic objectives of the business, a company’s culture should enable the achievement of the overarching ambition. The absolute buy-in of all stakeholders will ensure clarity of the direction of travel of the organisation. That clarity also allows colleagues to determine whether the culture aligns to their personal values and beliefs so they can be sure of belonging.

People join an organisation for its culture; it’s why they stay, or leave. If your attrition rate is increasing then one of the first questions to ask is whether there is a cultural misalignment in the way the company is operating against its strategic frame.

WORKING ON YOUR CULTURE

Culture isn’t something that’s “one and done”. You can’t just run a culture workshop and say “hey, that’s what our culture is now” and expect things to miraculously change.

Culture is also not a ‘thing’ - it’s a mindset; it can’t be seen or touched but can be felt. HBR describes it like the wind, blowing in your direction makes for smooth sailing, but against you it makes everything more difficult.

Changing a culture is one of the most challenging parts of any transformation, and takes time. It requires winning the hearts and minds of those who co-habit over and over again, and repetition and consistency are critical in the establishment of a strong culture. It can’t be dictated and demanded, it must be exemplified, convinced and believed. That takes relentlessness and restlessness, but my experience of leading organisations is that adversity often throws people together in a way that, with the right role modelling and reinforcement, can accelerate the pace at which a culture can cement. Having said that, I’ve also witnessed how, with inconsistency, that same pace can have a detrimental impact on culture.

There’s no short term, quick fix for cultural issues. At the centre of cultural realignment is the fundamental question - why do we exist as a business and what role do we have to play in society and the lives of our customers? Answer that question, and demonstrate how all the individual decisions that are made link back to that overarching purpose. Then those small steps come together to reinforce what your culture truly is.

The sooner you start, the sooner you start to see the results.

CULTURE FOR PROFIT

Recently I had to change my tyre. Living down a dirt track lane too often I find myself with slow punctures. I don’t particularly like going to the garage to sort out tyres as past experienced have made me feel uncomfortable, so I usually ask my husband to lean in. On this occasion he couldn’t, and so I set off with my car. Long story short, the tyre needed replacing as the puncture couldn’t be repaired. I had to go back two days later when the ordered replacement had arrived. My husband arranged the booking over email and told me what I should expect to pay as he’d looked online and agreed the price with the garage. When it came to paying the price was ￡70 more expensive than my husband had indicated. I asked the garage to check the price and they insisted it was correct. I paid the invoice and went home to share the story. What neither of us had realised is that this particualr national retailer operates a two tier pricing model with an “online price” if you book ahead via the website and a “in store” price for walk ins - they charged me the latter when my husband had booked via the former. My husband went back to the garage and asked the same question regarding checking the price, and in the face of his 6’4” presence the garage agreed to refund the difference. In fact, they said that it wasn’t ever an issue to refund the difference if a customer argues the toss between the in store and garage price - but I doubt you’ll find this documented anywhere that a customer might find easily.

Why am I sharing my tyre story? Having looked at the company’s values, they proudly promote that they: “focus on the customer” and “treat everyone with respect” whilst “taking responsibility”. Their parent company values say they will “wow our customers”. Well, they did certainly wow me, but not in a great way.

The pricing strategy of the organisation put its own colleagues in a position where they might reasonably expect to find themselves on the receiving end of confused, or even frustrated customers - leading them not to know what to expect in each interaction with a customer. How does this allow colleagues to consistently deliver wow service to customers if they are expected to apologise and issue refunds in the face of conflict? Is the organisation living by its values in treating everyone (all its customers irrespective of their channel choice) with respect? What about vulnerable elderly customers without internet access who can’t access the online prices - is that focussing on meeting their needs?

My recent tyre experience makes me want to go to a different tyre retailer, and so may lose my business in the future.

I’m not passing judgement on whether the pricing policy of the tyre company is right or wrong, but the question I will ask you to consider is whether you think their policy and expectations of colleagues is in line with their values.

Companies will inevitably make mistakes when it comes to customer service and holding hands up to acknowledge them is important. But the deliberate design of policies that are at odds with the values the organisation claims to hold as dear puts customers and colleagues in a state of flux where a lack of clarity dilutes the company’s culture. Rather than adding value it detracts it.

STOP STRIVING FOR PERFECTION

Culture is an infinite work in progress. And it should be.

As the next generation joins the workforce they have great expectation of what “work” means, and they are less willing to compromise, particularly on their values. Gen Z are looking to rewrite the playbook for work, wanting agency to create a future that they find meaningful. A BBC article notes that: “How a workplace operates also factors into whether younger workers stay or go. Gen Zers and millennials hold many of the same workplace values, but Gen Z seems to have more willingness to act on them – something born of the knowledge that there are endless other ways to earn a living now, thanks to the internet. Gen Zers want to see companies follow through on their mission statements, particularly in regard to social and environmental values, and if they aren’t “practising what they’re preaching, Gen Z will hold them accountable”.

Handshake’s data reports:

• Strong peer relationships (63%) and feeling like a part of the organisation (57%) are key reasons early talent would stay with an employer 55% of respondents said a commitment to DEI is extremely important when evaluating an employer 70% of Gen Z survey respondents attend career events to ensure the roles and responsibilities align with their interests and values and 51% attend to ensure the company aligns with their interests and values

Rather than striving for perfection I’d argue that we should embrace the flaws that our organisations have and use these as a growth opportunities. This authentic approach will bring people on the journey with a greater degree of ownership of the outcome. There are tools that help drive this cultural shift, like behaviour frameworks linked to values with clearly articulated on and off track examples. Evolving one to one documents to celebrate not just what is accomplished but the way achievements are executed.

Leading with values first is hard, until it isn’t. What do I mean? Put simply, moving from task focus to looking at tasks through the values lens requires a conscious change, but like any good habits becomes part of the sub-conscious with repetition.

What happens when all leaders adopt this approach is magical. Even without speaking, it becomes known how things are “done around here” in a way that can’t be captured on paper. The effect of this super alignment means anything that threatens to disrupt the cultural balance of an organisation or deviated from the established behavioural pattern sticks out like a sore thumb, causing questions as to the motives attached to that action or event.

As custodians of cultural principles, the transition from managers to leaders means connecting the ambition the organisation has for its people into the day to day work they do. Leaders who reach the level of alignment I’ve described will benefit from an easier short cut when decision making, and find a directional pivot swifter to implement when unexpected challenges materialise.

How do leaders embed and transmit culture? Edgar Schein talks about six ways:

• What they pay attention to, measure and control on a regular basis
• How they react to critical incidents and organisational crises
• How they allocate resource
• Through deliberate role modelling and coaching
• How they reward
• How they recruit, select, promote and exit people

For individuals, adopting a values based approach in their corporate lives will invariably seep into their entire way of being. From choosing a cricket club for their son or new school for their daughter, to selecting a personal trainer or regular coffee shop.

CULTURE AND PURPOSE

So, how can you start really thinking about your culture? I really like this model that outlines the components of culture clearly and connects it back to purpose:

1/ Having a clear and consistent purpose for why the organisation exists to connect to in daily work

2/ a well understood values set that informs the culture of the organisation through a belief of what is most important

3/ Actions guided by values become embedded behaviours, which become rituals as habits develop

4/ Applaud those who bring the company values to life through recognition

5/ Using cues to remind people to keep in touch with the purpose

In summary, clear purpose + solid leadership = thriving culture + strong performance.

More on purpose another day….