Does your Workplace Culture Support or Strangle Your Business’s Strategy?

In my job as a psychologist helping businesses to support and get the most out of their staff I’m fortunate to be invited into a wide range of workplaces. Some workplaces I visit feel energised, and the staff report that they love their job and colleagues. In these workplaces productivity is high, internal and external customers are satisfied, innovation happens, and unwanted turnover is low. In contrast, other workplaces feel tense, staff are barely on speaking terms with each other, and productivity is low.  These workplaces don’t feel different because of the talents of their staff, the resources available to them, or luck. What separates these workplaces is whether or not their leaders have actively built a workplace culture that supports staff and high performance.

Workplace culture: Inside the black box
Workplace culture is defined as a set of shared beliefs, values, norms and practices for group members. More commonly, workplace culture is often referred to as “The way we do things around here” or “The behaviour needed to fit in around here”. Workplace culture forms because people at work develop behaviours that help to meet their needs (e.g., junior staff members stop raising new ideas with their critical supervisor to avoid ridicule). As these behaviours prove useful people become very reluctant to let go of them. Over time these behaviours can become habits and prevail even if the original reason for the behaviour is no longer valid (e.g. the critical supervisor is transferred and replaced with a supportive supervisor). As new employees enter the organisation they take on these same behaviours without question to “fit in”. Eventually, nobody knows why they are acting as they do, but they all comply without question because “that’s just the way we do things around here”.

Business leaders as curators of workplace culture
The self-sustaining nature of workplace culture can be a blessing or a curse because workplace culture has the power to support or strangle a business’s strategy. It is here at the intersection of culture and strategy that business leaders should take a leading role by implementing processes and procedures that curate a workplace culture that supports business goals. For instance, imagine how the way in which employees are remunerated could set expectations about “the way we do things around here”. Firstly, consider the implications of paying employees a bonus depending on how they perform in relation to their peers. Such practices typically encourage fierce competition and can lead to staff withholding information from their peers in order to achieve a competitive advantage. As a result customer service may suffer as customers will not receive the benefits of the businesses collective best efforts. This internal competition is not in the best interest of the business. In contrast, consider an employee reward system based on the outcomes of individual and team efforts. In this case it is more likely that coordination and cooperation will occur. Drawing on the collective effort and talent of staff is likely to result in outcomes far greater for the business and its customers than relying on the efforts and talents of any sole employee.

Clearly, business procedures and practices can dramatically influence workplace culture, and can result in unintended disastrous outcomes if they create a workplace culture that does not support a business’s goals. For this reason it is important to be intentional when introducing new policies, procedures or practices. All workplaces can’t and shouldn’t share the same workplace culture, however there are some factors that should underpin policy and procedures which are more likely lead to a supportive, high performance culture. These include:

• Role Clarity – People know what to do day to day, and how their work contributes to the overall goals of the business.
• Manager and Peer support – People can expect practical and emotional support from their line managers and peers.
• Workload Demands – The required workload is reasonable, and people are given the resources they need.
• Control – People are trusted and not micro managed, they are given a say in how they complete their work.
• Change involvement – People are involved when change happens at work, especially when it impacts them directly.

Workplace culture is the bridge between business strategy and the people who carry out that strategy, and every business is perfectly designed to get the results it gets. If you see yourself as a strategic business leader I challenge you to ask – In what ways does our current workplace culture support our business’ goals? and how are current practices and procedures influencing workplace culture? If the answers to these questions trouble you, call it how you see it, and build a case for curating a workplace culture that truly supports your business’s goals. Just because things are the way they are doesn’t mean that they should be.

At HR Business Direction we are able to assist you with curating a cultue that supports your business goals. Contact us here.

Alistair Kerr MPsychOrg; PostGradDip Psych; BPsych
Organisational Development Strategist | Psychologist
alistair.kerr@hrbd.com.au
07 3890 2066
www.hrbd.com.au