Who Cares About Culture, Really?

With leaders twice as connected to their organisation’s culture as employees, how do we look to bridge this gap? 

And why does it matter?

Well, according to Gallup, those who strongly agree that “they feel strongly connected to their organisation’s culture” are:

- 4x as likely to be engaged at work

- 5.8x as likely to recommend their organisation as a great place to work

- 62% less likely to feel burned out at work

- 43% less likely to be watching for job opportunities or actively looking for another job.

So, it matters.

In this episode of with INTENT: we provide team leaders with a practical guide for involving their people in the cultures that they build - setting you up for success.

Chapters

• 0:00 The Importance of Organizational Culture
• 6:55 Assessing Performance Culture for Team Success

Transcript

Chris Wickenden: 0:00

Hey, Chris, here from FROM:TODAY and this week, I want to talk about the importance of a strong and widespread connection to organisational culture and your organisation's performance. So who cares about culture really? When we initiate conversations about organisational culture, it's something that I think that most team leaders know that they should care about. You know it sounds quite callous if you go no, I don't really care about my people, but and I genuinely believe that there is that care there. However, in real terms, when things aren't going so well, it's that investment in people and culture that often falls away. And I don't mean investment in terms of spending money on it. I think a better word to use would be the attention that we give it. We start to give culture and people less attention, and it comes from this idea that, well, actually, this is serious. Now we're really up against it, so we're going to have to just shelve that softer stuff. Maybe we can pick it up in the new year.

Chris Wickenden: 1:04

But the problem is you can't extract the people from the business argument. According to Gallup, when people feel strongly connected to their organizational culture, they are four times as likely to be engaged. They are 5.8 times as likely to recommend your organization as a great place to work. They're 62% less likely to face burnout and they are 43% less likely to be looking for somewhere else to work. Overall, businesses that invest in culture and people on a long-term basis are 23% more profitable than businesses that don't. So, in terms of performance, culture is a really big deal. However, it's not a short-term strategy. It is a lifetime commitment. We also know that currently, leaders are twice as likely to feel strongly connected to their organizational culture as their people are. So how do we bridge this gap?

Chris Wickenden: 2:09

Culture has to be more than words said by leaders. It has to be more than things, whether that's pool tables, nice offices, a good selection of snacks, beer o'clock every Friday, a certain allocation of duvet days, the odd away day you know, work from anywhere, days. Now, all of these things might well be manifestations of a fantastic culture, but alone, a culture they do not make, because culture is deeper than words. It's deeper than things. It's deeper than policies. It's about how your team experience their working environment on a day-to-day basis. So do they feel safe? Do they care? Do they feel cared about? Do they feel empowered? Do they feel that your organization is a place that they would like to grow? Do they actually want to be where they are? Do they feel a sense of purpose? Do they feel that they are contributing to a bigger picture? So, team leaders, ask yourself those questions about your team. More importantly, what do you think their answers to those questions would be?

Chris Wickenden: 3:22

Because so much about building a high performance culture is simply about serving fundamental human needs, and we should be thinking less about what policies to implement and more about what conversations to initiate and I know I sound like a broken record because I talk about it every single week, but meaningful conversations happening all of the time really are the bedrock to an exceptional culture. So where do we start? If you are a team leader and you connect to anything that I've shared, it might feel a bit daunting to be tasked with changing the culture of your entire organization. So don't Take that pressure off. Start more locally and have a go at following these five steps. Number one start with you and start with purpose. So everything about a team culture will flow from a clear, articulated, shared purpose. Why do you all do what you do together? Everybody craves a deeper sense of meaning in their day-to-day lives, so ask these simple questions of yourself what does your job mean to you? What does it mean to be part of this team? What do you want it to mean for your team? What's your personal reason to get out of bed and what do you think the shared reason to believe for this team should be? Capture everything, reflect on it, walk away, come back to it, reflect some more, start to connect some dots, start to find some meaning in your scribblings.

Chris Wickenden: 4:53

Step number two engage your team in this honest conversation. Don't tag it onto the end of the meeting. Create some dedicated time for it in the diary and ask those same questions what does your job mean to you? What does it mean to be part of this team? What would you like it to mean? What's your reason to get out of bed and what's the shared reason to believe for this team? Again, capture everything. Remember no involvement, no engagement, and if you don't get people to engage, they're unlikely to commit to anything. And, as one of our clients quite beautifully put it regarding culture, if they build it, they won't break it. So, on that note, getting really practical.

Chris Wickenden: 5:35

Step number three build your terms. Ask your team this really simple question what do you need from each other to feel safe, supported and inspired? Now we don't often talk about this stuff so explicitly and the process of hearing people share fundamental human wants and needs can be incredibly powerful. Capture everything and use those notes to build a constitution of values and behaviors to hold each other accountable. Step number four make it practical, as a result of this work and these conversations that you've had around purpose and around your constitution, what needs to happen as a result? When will it happen? Who's responsible?

Chris Wickenden: 6:18

It can't just remain as some stuff that you scribbled down in a boardroom and somebody wiped it off straight after because they had a meeting, or some things that you scribbled down on a flip chart at a pretty cool away day but ultimately ends up in the bin. Are there policies that need to be implemented? Did you all agree to take some actions as a result of the work that you did? Are there structures and processes that need to be put in place and when are you going to revisit this work? Remember, building a great culture is not a static process. It requires that continuous investment and attention. It is a lifetime commitment.

Chris Wickenden: 6:55

And step number five all of this stuff can feel a little bit overwhelming. It needn't do and we can help. So we have a fantastic tool, intent, that allows you to assess your performance culture against five founding elements authenticity, care, empowerment, presence and purpose and you can fill this in under assess your performance on our website right away. It takes about five minutes and it will give you some immediate, actionable insight. But the real value is getting your team to fill in this survey, comparing what you say to what your team has to say and using this as a foundation for some really honest, high quality conversations around the culture that you want to build for your team. So if you would like help with any of what I have just shared, please do get in touch. We have helped so many teams and organizations ultimately to lay the foundations to be an incredibly successful team. So you can get in touch with me chris at chris fromtodaycom, or just hit me up on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening and I will see you soon. Cheers.