Organisation Culture - creation or evolution?

Every organisation has a culture either by creation or evolution. The challenge for many leaders today lies in how to create a culture which embodies high execution. 

For organisations that pay attention to the culture, revenue is likely to increase in comparison to those that do not. Therefore, creating the right culture is a priority for organisational success.  

Culture is created to align employees with the Purpose and impact of the organisation. It defines and communicates the values, appreciated behaviours and shared beliefs for organisational success. When there is common alignment in thinking and objectives, people will happily strive for collective success and be more autonomous and engaged – all of which are components of a high-execution culture. When this high execution culture is prevalent amongst employees and role modelled by leaders it becomes both significant and sustained.

Organisational values are demonstrated through cultural behaviour and individual values are demonstrated through personal behaviour. If the organisation values are not reinforced, people quickly learn that it’s ok to succeed in ways that do not represent the values. Truly purpose driven behaviour happens when there is congruence between organisational culture and individual employees’ personal values.

 It starts with behaviours

‘Change behaviours, get culture; not the other way around’ - Leandro Herrero – Chief Organisation Architect

It is a good premise to believe that, fundamentally people look for and seek a positive outcome in everything they do. This doesn’t always happen, many things can muddy the waters and impact that outcome. It is, however, still the right premise to have, if you are a leader thinking about the people in your organisation; if you are an employee thinking about your leader or if you are just thinking about your colleagues and team members.

What can muddy the waters or distort our perception of colleagues is when we interpret, or perhaps more correctly, misinterpret their intentions, behaviours and evaluate the outcome or the person based solely on the behaviour. Whilst the behaviours are what we outwardly see – people are not their behaviours.  

Navigating the range of behaviours people demonstrate within an organisation and ensuring the course is still maintained is no mean feat. In defining an organisation culture people are expected to be a ‘good fit’, demonstrate the appreciated behaviours, and do not demonstrate - at least not consistently - the non-appreciated behaviours. The question is what to do when the demonstrated behaviour is consistently not according to the culture. As culture is only as strong as the lowest acceptable behaviour – it’s paramount that when the behaviour is deemed to be unacceptable people know it is the right thing to call it out. In other words, to create the desired culture the accepted behaviours need to consistently fit the organisational values.  

One way to view a non-appreciated behaviour or any poor performance is to see it as a failure in the system rather than a failure with the person. Systems thinking seeks to identify the root causes, rather than focus on people to blame. When you look at the root cause, you open a range of possibilities in how you respond to the person and their behaviour.  

Everybody’s responsibility

Whilst leaders drive, steer and model the organisation culture, everyone has a responsibility to maintain it. A high execution culture involves everybody in the execution of the strategy so a culture that engages and motivates individuals is needed now more than ever. A strong positive culture can increase both operating income and earnings growth (PeopleSpark 2015). When organisational culture is not followed these can become good learning opportunities because when organisations do not address the performance problem it becomes a performance problem. 

By influencing how people behave, recognising the triggers for non-appreciated behaviours and changing how we think about others’ behaviour we can profoundly shape organisation culture.

At times, behaviour is driven by impulse rather than conscious choice – this is natural. People rarely stop and acknowledge their behaviour is influenced a variety of factors; let alone by the current situation they find themselves in. Naturally, whilst negative behaviour towards others is not an appreciated behaviour, it’s important to acknowledge and take responsibility for the full range of emotions to ensure they are managed for the mutual benefit of the individual and the organisation.  

In great organisations people are focused on achieving the collective outcomes together – working as a team. When aiming to be the best in the world it’s only natural to experience disappointment, insecurity and frustration. The skill is channelling these emotions towards winning the game. Look at any high performing sports team – the journey is rarely straightforward and easy; psychological safety is essential. Individuals who recognise this are those who ask for help, because they know when things are going off track. Great leaders who recognise this are those who encourage a culture where people know they can ask for help without any consequences and consistently aim higher. 

Phil Bush & Margareta Fellman-H?m?l?inen drive Customer Success at Tangible Growth