How Would You Know Your Org Culture Need Work?
250 words/min = 4.5 min read
Do you know how to describe your company’s culture? Do you feel like it needs work? If you answered yes to either of these questions, it might be time for a change.
Organizational culture is one of the most important aspects of any company, and it impacts everything from the way employees interact to how customers are treated. It’s essential that companies invest in understanding their culture and make changes, if necessary, in order to thrive.
What is organizational culture?
The word “culture” is broad and used when discussing different countries, organizations, and teams. It’s hard for most people to easily describe. We tend to look at the attributes or outputs of the organization, and we attribute these things that are out there to the culture. When we see nice furnishings or Ping-Pong tables in a break room, we imagine how employees and managers interact and think about their jobs.
These outward appearances are indeed related to an organization’s culture or a team’s culture. However, what we are describing when we use the term culture is an organization’s identity. An organization’s culture is its very identity. Just like a person has unique characteristics that make him or her unique, teams and organizations have unique traits, mentalities, values, and behaviors that make them different.
What are some signs that your company culture needs work?
The easiest way a leader diagnoses a culture that needs fixing is by looking at behaviors that adversely impact the organization and seem impossible to overcome through training, emails, arguments, or coaching. Here are a few of the many examples that exist in unsustainable cultures:
– Employees feel like they don’t have a voice or feel like they can’t express their views.
– There is a lack of teamwork and communication.
– Employees feel like they are stuck in a rut and don’t see any opportunity for advancement.
– Employees feel like they are undervalued or treated poorly.
– Employees feel like they are working in a dictatorship.
When you read the list above, it seems simple. You feel like calling an all-hands meeting and screaming, “can’t we all just get along!” If it were that easy, we wouldn’t need blogs.
How do we begin to change?
There are three primary tools that we teach leaders to use when looking to shift a team’s “identity” or culture. The first tool we teach is “Mastering Routines.” Aristotle got this one right when he said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” So, if you are looking to get started with a team or an organization, look closely at routines that are producing results at odds with the organization’s goals, vision, and professed values. Then deliberately and consistently work (this should begin at the top) to shift these two routines to produce results aligned with the organization’s vision and values.
For instance, I was leading operations at one organization, and soon after starting, a stair-climbing incident occurred. We pulled up all of the data and interviewed team members, and we realized the company professed safety as a value, but our team members were not practicing ladder safety. If ladder safety was essential to workers on the ground, then it stands to reason they would want to change their behaviors and practice proper ladder safety. However, they were resistant to change. “This is the way we have always done it.” and “Changing the way we work will only slow us down!” was the overwhelming feedback.
What routines did we implement to change to start making their work safer? First, we changed our communication routines (or lack thereof). Monthly safety meetings were implemented. Instead of the office manager preparing a dry lesson to read, the team members were asked to prepare a lesson on safety and present it to the office. We also had competitions that offered prizes for when team members recorded videos of their workplaces when they saw something that was unsafe. We talked about why we were making the changes with each newsletter email, outlining how working safer aligns with what we want to become as an organization.
The following routine was what I refer to as a “burn the ships” routine. The company threw away every ladder… HUNDREDS of ladders. New ladders with platforms built into the top of the ladder were purchased. The new ladders eliminated the temptation the workers had to stand on top of the peak of the ladder to reach something. Instead, they were forced to go and get a taller ladder.
Finally, the entire team pitched in to innovate our data collection process. The company purchased new technology that dramatically reduced the times each person needed to travel up and down a ladder on each job. We had no complaints from the team members about that change in routine!
How did our new routines shape the culture? I continued with the company for three more years and still keep in contact with many of the team members. The company went from having multiple accidents a year to zero ladder accidents for over four years running. Safety increased, and so did productivity.
If you are looking for a simple formula, start by committing to the following:
- Outline the bad routines your company currently practices. (This may be the most challenging step because you have to be honest about some dirty laundry.)
- Bring the team together to develop new routines that align with the organization’s mission, vision, and values.
- Make sure to communicate the WHY behind the change in routines.
- Make changes to one or two routines so the team can find the “new normal” and adjust.
- Make the hard decision to coach (or even terminate) team members who reject the new way. If they cannot align their behavior with the new routine, they may not be in alignment with the culture you are trying to create.
- Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate the results created by the new routines.
Don’t fall into the trap and believe the lie that “we can’t change things here.” The company in the example above had just celebrated its 30th anniversary. They had years of bad habits that made people resistive to change. Culture is identity, and the company now identifies as a safe place to work. YOU ARE WHAT YOU DO!
Conclusion
If you feel like your company culture needs work, it might be time to change. What changes would you make? If you have questions on how it would work for your organization or feel overwhelmed, we are here to help! We nerd-out on culture and build tools to help companies develop strong leader-coaches and successful cultures. Please send us a note or contact us us online. Have you have been looking for a way to increase employee engagement? If so, check out our 1on1 Coaching App. For the most effective results, contact us to set up training for your coaching system launch.
~ Coach D
How Would You Know Your Org Culture Need Work?
250 words/min = 4.5 min read
Do you know how to describe your company’s culture? Do you feel like it needs work? If you answered yes to either of these questions, it might be time for a change.
Organizational culture is one of the most important aspects of any company, and it impacts everything from the way employees interact to how customers are treated. It’s essential that companies invest in understanding their culture and make changes, if necessary, in order to thrive.
What is organizational culture?
The word “culture” is broad and used when discussing different countries, organizations, and teams. It’s hard for most people to easily describe. We tend to look at the attributes or outputs of the organization, and we attribute these things that are out there to the culture. When we see nice furnishings or Ping-Pong tables in a break room, we imagine how employees and managers interact and think about their jobs.
These outward appearances are indeed related to an organization’s culture or a team’s culture. However, what we are describing when we use the term culture is an organization’s identity. An organization’s culture is its very identity. Just like a person has unique characteristics that make him or her unique, teams and organizations have unique traits, mentalities, values, and behaviors that make them different.
What are some signs that your company culture needs work?
The easiest way a leader diagnoses a culture that needs fixing is by looking at behaviors that adversely impact the organization and seem impossible to overcome through training, emails, arguments, or coaching. Here are a few of the many examples that exist in unsustainable cultures:
– Employees feel like they don’t have a voice or feel like they can’t express their views.
– There is a lack of teamwork and communication.
– Employees feel like they are stuck in a rut and don’t see any opportunity for advancement.
– Employees feel like they are undervalued or treated poorly.
– Employees feel like they are working in a dictatorship.
When you read the list above, it seems simple. You feel like calling an all-hands meeting and screaming, “can’t we all just get along!” If it were that easy, we wouldn’t need blogs.
How do we begin to change?
There are three primary tools that we teach leaders to use when looking to shift a team’s “identity” or culture. The first tool we teach is “Mastering Routines.” Aristotle got this one right when he said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” So, if you are looking to get started with a team or an organization, look closely at routines that are producing results at odds with the organization’s goals, vision, and professed values. Then deliberately and consistently work (this should begin at the top) to shift these two routines to produce results aligned with the organization’s vision and values.
For instance, I was leading operations at one organization, and soon after starting, a stair-climbing incident occurred. We pulled up all of the data and interviewed team members, and we realized the company professed safety as a value, but our team members were not practicing ladder safety. If ladder safety was essential to workers on the ground, then it stands to reason they would want to change their behaviors and practice proper ladder safety. However, they were resistant to change. “This is the way we have always done it.” and “Changing the way we work will only slow us down!” was the overwhelming feedback.
What routines did we implement to change to start making their work safer? First, we changed our communication routines (or lack thereof). Monthly safety meetings were implemented. Instead of the office manager preparing a dry lesson to read, the team members were asked to prepare a lesson on safety and present it to the office. We also had competitions that offered prizes for when team members recorded videos of their workplaces when they saw something that was unsafe. We talked about why we were making the changes with each newsletter email, outlining how working safer aligns with what we want to become as an organization.
The following routine was what I refer to as a “burn the ships” routine. The company threw away every ladder… HUNDREDS of ladders. New ladders with platforms built into the top of the ladder were purchased. The new ladders eliminated the temptation the workers had to stand on top of the peak of the ladder to reach something. Instead, they were forced to go and get a taller ladder.
Finally, the entire team pitched in to innovate our data collection process. The company purchased new technology that dramatically reduced the times each person needed to travel up and down a ladder on each job. We had no complaints from the team members about that change in routine!
How did our new routines shape the culture? I continued with the company for three more years and still keep in contact with many of the team members. The company went from having multiple accidents a year to zero ladder accidents for over four years running. Safety increased, and so did productivity.
If you are looking for a simple formula, start by committing to the following:
- Outline the bad routines your company currently practices. (This may be the most challenging step because you have to be honest about some dirty laundry.)
- Bring the team together to develop new routines that align with the organization’s mission, vision, and values.
- Make sure to communicate the WHY behind the change in routines.
- Make changes to one or two routines so the team can find the “new normal” and adjust.
- Make the hard decision to coach (or even terminate) team members who reject the new way. If they cannot align their behavior with the new routine, they may not be in alignment with the culture you are trying to create.
- Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate the results created by the new routines.
Don’t fall into the trap and believe the lie that “we can’t change things here.” The company in the example above had just celebrated its 30th anniversary. They had years of bad habits that made people resistive to change. Culture is identity, and the company now identifies as a safe place to work. YOU ARE WHAT YOU DO!
Conclusion
If you feel like your company culture needs work, it might be time to change. What changes would you make? If you have questions on how it would work for your organization or feel overwhelmed, we are here to help! We nerd-out on culture and build tools to help companies develop strong leader-coaches and successful cultures. Please send us a note or contact us us online. Have you have been looking for a way to increase employee engagement? If so, check out our 1on1 Coaching App. For the most effective results, contact us to set up training for your coaching system launch.
~ Coach D
