The renewed importance of organizational culture (and 4 things you can do to shape it)

I’ve written and spoken about support as an integral part of brand and product experience,? and its role as a differentiator within the product strategy.? These are great synergies, but good and impactful customer support doesn’t just happen- it’s the outcome of an intentional business strategy, highly functioning operational capabilities, and organizational leadership that can recruit, empower, engage and grow teams around the customer experience mission.

That said, the best strategy can’t succeed without an organizational culture that aligns, supports and amplifies it.? We’re witnessing this realization following the upheavals across large swaths of the business world - particularly the tech sector of 2022 and 2023- in the form of a renewed focus among business leaders. Tahir Qazi, CEO of Iquasar calls it the “secret sauce of business success” in his Inc article of the same title. ? And Jessica Kreiegel, Chief Scientist of workplace culture, posits in a recent TSIA Techtonic podcast that team culture can be molded and adapted to meet changing business environments.

These types of conversations highlight a renewed understanding of organizational culture as a fundamental business component, providing a shared sense of direction, motivation, and shared purpose that encompasses norms, beliefs, values, inclusivity and adaptability in the face of a rapidly changing business landscape. ? (Alternatively, lacking attention or intentional curation, a feral culture can develop and be detrimental to all the same ends.? Consider Uber circa 2016 when an unchecked culture of toxic sexism and hostility roiled the company, disrupting leadership, investor confidence and driving a huge employee churn).

....the best strategy can’t succeed without an organizational culture that aligns, supports and amplifies it

I’ve witnessed the importance of team culture connection to business strategy? first hand. For years before my joining a certain support organization, leadership had focused recognition of business outcomes on the “glass half empty” view- what the gaps and failures were- rather than the achievements (which were numerous and impressive).? New to the organization and working to make the case for renewed strategic change, I saw that the team exuded a culture of defeat that was palpable.? They weren’t up to do anything new because they felt it would only generate disappointment.?

I responded by putting the case for change aside until I could create some small, meaningful wins and show them that celebrating success while learning from failures was a powerful tool.? In fact, we began recognizing teams and individuals who overcame failure in delivering stronger and more enduring accomplishments.? That was a culture shift we made, and the team was able to start celebrating their positive outcomes right alongside learnings that came from attempt-fail-adjust endeavors.? From there, the strategy pivots we made were all the more supported and championed.

How can you assess and shape your organizational culture?

• Reach across leadership, senior stakeholders and employees to define and socialize the shared vision, mission and values of the organization.
• Communicate it broadly and often across a diversity of channels and forums to encourage a sense of purpose and commitment, and clearly highlight the ways that individual roles are connected to the overall mission.
• Cultivate leadership, recognition and rewards that highlight and support the culture.? Leaders should also exemplify the values and behaviors while fostering open communication and transparency.?
• Focus on employee engagement by building a positive work environment where employees feel valued and engaged, are enabled to collaborate and build upon cultural elements, and are recognized and rewarded for contributions that exemplify the culture.

About me: I am a results driven customer support leader, passionate about customer experience and customer support as core to the product value proposition, who builds and leads high performance support organizations for new products/channels, scales organizational capabilities for in-place teams, and innovates support strategy for growing products and companies.

[email protected] | www.dhirubhai.net/in/robarmstrongpm/

#customerservice #customerexperience #customersupport

#customersuccess #customercare