The Secret Ingredient for a World Leading Culture

We intuitively know the correlation between company culture and company success (including success in attracting and retaining great people). Research shows that companies who’s staff describe their culture as good or excellent seem to be thriving in all respects.

We also know how to build an outstanding culture:

• Create a sense of belonging and connection
  
• Develop working practices that are aligned with values and purpose
  
• Provide meaningful work that leads to recognisable outcomes
  
• Recognise personal and team efforts and achievementProvide opportunities for ongoing learning, and professional and personal development 
  
• Clearly define career paths; this is not necessarily promotion - but growth 
  

But there is a 7th, and arguably the most important factor in building a winning culture. It is your leadership style. This is all the more challenging as almost every CEO in the world has (or should have) changed how they lead. We are all leading teams that have fundamentally changed their relationship to ‘work’. This includes onsite, fully remote, hybrid, back to the office but not liking it, or back and loving it. 

Culture is often assigned to the HR Department - it's people so it must be them!  But, just like branding or quality, culture is everybody's responsibility; certainly everybody is contributing to it and being affected by it.  And your entire leadership team has a particularly critical role.

Leadership is all about influencing those around you, whether actively or passively, and culture requires leadership to maintain it and it requires leadership to adjust it.  So, anyone in any position of seniority or authority, whether they have people reporting to them or not, has a responsibility to set the right example, and live the values that are consistent with the culture that you aspire to. If you want to adjust the culture of your company, first your leadership and management team must be onboard.

 Before they can lead, the people in your company who will be watched and whose example will be copied, will themselves need to be self-aware and conscious of the example they set. This self-awareness and consciousness is a necessary skill of the modern manager in the thriving company of the future. 

While culture is difficult to measure directly, we all know what it feels like, and we all know it's real. Here are five things you can do with your management team to ensure that culture is working for you:

• Be intentional - share and discuss your vision of the culture you are trying to create to ensure alignment – expect managers to do the same with their staff.
  
• Design work practices, processes and policies that are consistent and supportive of the culture you want.
  
• Recognise the behaviours that are helping to build your desired culture, and call out behaviours that will thwart it. 
  
• Review it regularly and hold your managers (and yourself) to account
  
• Lead by good example.
  

 Culture is an increasingly important part of a company's brand - whether being considered by customers, employees or potential employees. Every company that aspires to greatness should build culture into their strategic planning and charge 'recognised' leaders with being part of the evolution of the culture.

 Not sure where to start or if your culture is what you need? Conduct a culture review and compare it to your strategic plan.  Want to know more – call me or see the previous Tuesday Tune-ups below.

Bye for now

Graham

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Here are some other associated blogs that you may find useful while considering creating your world leading culture:

• How to Evaluate your Values - Whether and how you live your values are crucial to attracting and retaining staff and customers
• A Bowl of Cultural Soup - Your culture is yours to create - like making a bowl of soup - you are the chef, but are you in control of your kitchen?
• Welcome to the Edge of Chaos - There is an optimal place when designing your workplace practices between creating control and order and giving people freedom to be creative and apply judgement
• Why would anyone ever work for you? - Are you really creating the company that prospective employees would want to work at?
• When does a Square Peg fit perfectly into a Round Hole?  Sometimes, it may benefit you to recruit someone who doesn't at first appear to be a perfect fit
• Should I Stay or Should I go? - If you are not able to provide your staff with a few key cultural elements, you may struggle to keep your good people