Embracing Changing Culture
Gone are the days when organizational culture was a top-down endeavor, delegated to a select few. In today’s dynamic business landscape, where adaptability and inclusivity are paramount, a shared responsibility approach to culture-building has taken center stage. This transformative approach harnesses the collective power of every individual within an organization to shape, nurture, and evolve its culture. In this article, we delve into the reasons behind this paradigm shift, explore the key players involved, and unveil the myriad benefits it brings to businesses.
Embracing Change in a Transformative Era:
The seismic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have forced leaders to redefine their interactions with employees and rethink traditional models of workplace connectivity. In this new reality, the inadequacies of the conventional top-down approach to culture-building have become apparent. Simultaneously, high-profile culture crises and the pressing need for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have amplified the importance of culture as a strategic priority. Culture can no longer be compartmentalized or delegated; it requires a cohesive, inclusive, and collaborative effort.
From Concept to Collective Action:
Organizational culture, at its core, encompasses the shared behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that shape how work gets done and how people interact within an organization. The shared responsibility approach recognizes that cultivating the desired culture is a collective endeavor, with each individual assuming an active role.
Empowering Key Stakeholders:
- Board of Directors: The board guides and champions the definition and development of the desired culture, ensuring alignment with business goals and stakeholder needs. By making culture a regular agenda item, engaging in conversations with key players, and conducting culture audits, the board instills a culture-conscious mindset throughout the organization. Let’s be blunt. If you give the Board of Directors a report card on their mindset, it begs the question do you have the right board? Is everybody in the board more capable than the mindset of the leader ship team or is it the reverse? Do we have the right Board of Directors? Who should we vote on? If you want a good board, take my advice make sure you review the mindset of the people on it. Their subconscious will drive their purpose which could be perpendicular to yours.
- CEO and Senior Management: The CEO and senior management take on the crucial task of defining and cultivating the desired culture. Through their leadership actions, they set objectives, strategies, and key results that prioritize culture-building. They design organizational structures and operational processes that support and advance the company’s purpose and core values. Let’s be blunt again. Does senior management align with creating a culture based on results and performance? Is it one based on discipline or opportunity? It’s not like you can go to your CFO and ask what is her mindset.
- Human Resources: HR assumes a pivotal role in designing employee experiences that interpret and reinforce the desired culture. This is such a critical piece. Most HR people are disciplined mindsets. For a reason they have a particular job that requires a lot of structure. Does it mean that this is the right person and team to build the company you want? They become the custodians of culture-building strategies, offering training programs that develop leaders’ capacity for culture-building and employee engagement. Are they designing the right culture building activities? If their mindset is disciplined, and you have a goal to double the business in five years, the chances are your way the hell off. HR also crafts culture guidebooks, performance management processes, and rewards and recognition programs that breathe life into the desired culture. And what on earth is a reward? Are we rewarding and will that take away from something else that is long-term?
- Compliance, Risk, and Ethics: This department provides valuable input on the definition of the desired culture from an ethical and risk perspective. They ensure that executing the desired culture aligns with the organization’s risk management strategies. Through robust tools, processes, and systems, they create a culture that upholds integrity and compliance. Certainly a key to bigger businesses. Compliance and risk are critical once you’re down the road on that S-curve. Ethics is also critical. We thought about ethics in the hands of an opportunistic mindset liter? What do you think that looks like? It’s not gonna be pretty.
- Employees: The true fabric of organizational culture lies in the attitudes and behaviors of every employee. Are you recruiting the right ones with the right mindset? If you’re not you’re getting random selection which could be deadly. If you were recruiting from an HR department that is too disciplined then you’re creating your next over disciplined company before the product has settled down. Their active participation is key to cultivating the desired culture. Employees provide invaluable input on culture-building programs, offering insights on the existing culture, customer perspectives, and employee needs. If you’re recruiting the right employees, this is a correct statement they are part of the culture building program. They do offer insight. Is there insight valuable if they’re opportunistic and obstructionist? It’s a big question and you might find out that you don’t like the answer if you have too many of them. They play an active role in shaping routines, enforcing norms, and aligning their actions with the desired culture. If you build a system that only allows complementary mindset into the organization even in the interview stage, you will solve this problem from the employee point of you. If you’re bringing in random selection, you could have a big problem.
Benefits of Collective Ownership:
Adopting a shared responsibility approach to culture-building unleashes a multitude of benefits for organizations. But only if you’re hiring and promoting people with mindset capacity that are complementary to one another. It’s like a car you can go 55 miles an hour just fine if you floor it and ride the brakes at the same time. Not exactly productive, is it?
Building a culture that is authentic, inclusive, and reflective of the collective aspirations and values of the entire workforce it’s possible if your measuring mindset. Otherwise you’re getting random selection.