by Randal Godden, Chairman and CEO, at TEC South Africa
This article was first published in Real Business, a supplement
to Business Day which appears on the third Monday of every month.
An organisation’s culture is the physical expression of its
values and philosophies. It is fundamentally the manner in which the
organisation, in general, and the leaders of the organisation, in
particular, behave in all areas. And, this includes people, policies,
systems, structures, decisions, day-to-day actions and especially
all interpersonal interfaces.
One way of looking at culture is in terms of the “corporate
virus” you catch when joining a company. It can be a positive “virus”,
where innovation and risk taking is encouraged; or, a negative virus,
where we accept mediocrity or do not encourage change.
An organization's leaders plan, direct and are responsible for three
major agendas. These are the strategic, operational and cultural agendas.
The strategic agenda includes longer-term elements such as purpose
and direction (planning), the structural elements of the organization,
the management information system and the reward and recognition of
its people. The operational, or tactical, agenda relates to the key
functional areas of the business, its customers, sales and marketing;
operations, how we deliver our products and services; and the administering
of the business, how we keep score.
The cultural agenda however is totally behavioral and is, consequently,
both a cause and outcome of organisational problems or successes. When
we do well the result is excitement and optimism about the organisation.
This becomes causal and encourages acting positively, overcoming problems
and providing an improved service. Or, conversely, we become task oriented
with too many priorities, and become reactive rather than proactive.
This, in turn, minimises planning and results in a loss of direction.
When the culture contains negative elements it tends to become embedded,
and the virus feeds upon the behaviour that caused these negative aspects
in the first place. And, without a concerted effort by the leaders,
or new leadership, it becomes very difficult to change the culture.
It requires recognition of the elements that require change as well
as commitment from the leaders, in particular, to lead by example.
Critically, the behaviour of the leaders sets the pattern, and is
quite the opposite of how many of us raise children: It’s more
a case of “monkey see, monkey do”, rather than “don’t
do as I do, do as I say”. The example we as leaders set is our
behavior, which ultimately embodies the organisation’s culture.
To effectively develop a positive culture, consider the following
steps:
Establish the values, or culture, you require in conjunction with
your people.
Ensure that the leaders of the business can commit to each value – the
breach of one value endangers the whole value system or culture.
In particular, ensure that difficult company issues such as planning,
problem solving and emergencies are handled consistently and in line
with the new value system.
Ideally, have the leaders live the new culture initially, leading
by example, and then cascade throughout the rest of the organisation.
Initially limit the number of values to only the really important
ones. Examples of these include integrity and ethics in all dealings,
high mutual respect, reward and recognition for innovative change and
a balance of diligence and fun.
Constantly review the effectiveness of the overall culture and tweak
it if appropriate.
Culture is the least understood of the three leadership agendas.
Research in the US has highlighted the fact that a positive and encouraging
culture is one of the key ingredients of more successful organisations.
It also becomes infectious, extending to employees, all other stakeholders
and particularly to potential employee recruits.
Ask yourself when last you assessed the culture of your organisation
and determined whether it’s positive and encouraging, or negative
and damaging to your performance. A positive culture takes consistent
application and focus, but can have one of the most rewarding impacts
on overall performance. |
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