Part I of Rockwood’s Company Culture Series

by Morgan Ziemke

Organizational culture is a set of norms, behaviors, assumptions, and beliefs under which an organization’s leadership and community operates. It comprises how employees treat one another (as well as their partners and customers), solve problems, innovate, manage pressure, and respond to obstacles. A strong, positive culture enables a resilient, productive, innovative, and collaborative organization, fostering a motivated workforce that will achieve complex organizational mission outcomes. 

Conversely, a poor culture quickly becomes toxic, leading to low employee morale and negative organizational outcomes. As organizations continue to face a geographically disbursed and virtual workforce amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders are struggling with how best to maintain their positive and consistent shared set of norms and values across their organizations. Subsequently, 24% of human resource leaders claim that their workplace culture has deteriorated since the pandemic began.[1]

As a leader, you can create and sustain a strong positive culture by applying the following best practices:

1.    Leadership Cohesion:

In companies with positive cultures, employees tend to share a cohesive set of beliefs, behavioral rules, traditions, and rituals. To achieve this, leadership articulates a company culture that aligns with customer needs, strategic direction, and competitive environments.

However, poor leadership within an organization indicates a toxic culture. In 2019, 58% of employees who quit a job due to their organization’s culture said that leadership and management were the main reason for their departure.[2] Research suggests that leaders who practice fostering their employees’ inner motivational needs, like autonomy in their work and connection to their teams, can build greater employee engagement.

Leadership Tips:

·      Develop and repeat stories, create symbols, and establish rituals that reinforce your culture’s values and norms.

·      Articulate your organization’s purpose and help individuals find their “why” to foster their inner motivational needs.

·      Tell “stories” about teams and individual contributors’ behavior that directly reflects desired cultural values and links to future state organizational goals.

·      Use language in statements and policies to illustrate the company’s primary values and provide a shared understanding among the workforce.

·      Model cultural values and behavior norms in everything you do and say.

·      Build connections across your workforce, regardless of seniority.

2.    Culture Communication:

Over half of working Americans attribute poor communication to their worsening workplace culture1. The danger posed by poor communication is especially visible in a digitized environment that limits individuals’ interactions (e.g., an email recipient may misinterpret the sender’s tone since tone is difficult to discern from behind a computer screen.)

Alternatively, strong communication between leadership and the workforce can promote organizational values, align expectations for employees’ roles, and increase a culture of accountability and transparency.

Leadership Tips:

·      Celebrate and recognize those teams and individuals that achieved results while demonstrating the company’s cultural norms and values.

·      Publish articles and social media posts articulating company culture in action.

·      Communicate recognition of employees to their supervisors and ensure their personnel records include the recognition.

·      Issue monetary bonuses for those who consistently model and teach others company values.

·      Provide a dedicated forum for open communication and feedback about cultural norms in action.

3.    Performance Expectations:

Leadership should ensure that teams are on the same page and create a culture that clearly outlines performance expectations. When leadership is consistent in defining performance expectations that support company values, the company’s employees will think more highly of their workplace culture.

Leadership Tips:

·      Incorporate cultural values into the hiring evaluation process to ensure new staff understand and embrace the company’s values and norms from the start.

·      Onboard all new staff in a consistent manner that teaches the intended values and norms.

·      Directly link individual performance goals to the achievement of organizational goals and to the demonstration of the desired cultural values and norms.

·      Save promotions for those who model the desired cultural values and norms.

·      Hold managers accountable to model and re-enforce the desired cultural values and norms.

An organization’s leadership declares the desired cultural values and norms and sets the tone for workplace culture. Culture plays a critical role in determining whether an organization will successfully achieve complex outcomes—especially in today’s complex workplace. In 2021, almost 75% of working Americans give credit to their organization’s values for helping them navigate the pandemic.[1]

The new year is the perfect time to deliberately strengthen a weakening organizational culture. By revisiting leadership cohesion, culture communications, and employee performance expectations, you can strengthen your company culture.

 References:

1.    Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). (2021). The Culture Effect: Why A Positive Workplace Culture is the New Currency.

2.    Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). (2019). The High Cost of a Toxic Workplace Culture: How Culture Impacts The Workforce—And The Bottom Line.