Culture n. 1. The sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings transmitted from one generation to another.
Creating a high performance organizational culture is probably the single most important aspect of success.
In societies around the world, people’s beliefs, ideas, laws and rules for conduct are formed and developed by the culture in which they live. The culture of a society or community is one of the most powerful influences on a person.
Positioning People—Organizing a High Performance Culture
The first consideration of culture is having the right people in the right place. There are three important aspects to look at when position people effectively;
• A person’s interests or likes
• A person’s attributes
• A person’s skill set
Take the time to list what skills and attributes are needed for each position you lead.
Transforming the Belief System
Belief systems provide a core set of values on which we base everything we do, say or believe. An organization's belief system set the precepts from which it conducts business, those that govern its planning, direction and action.
Team Buy-In
The advantage of team buy-in comes when the store leader is no longer the only one holding the team members accountable. Achieving team buy-in requires the following steps: sharing with your team our plan for creating a winning environment, showing them the results and rewards of the environment, and obtaining the team’s commitment
Tough Decision Making
There comes a point in the process of creating a winning culture when you realize someone may not fit anywhere. This is time to make the decision that someone may fit better in a different position or different company.
“Culture is the mother of all institutions.”
Use these Elements to Build a Culture of Real Engagement
Team member engagement is like a box of Legos: You’ve got to fit a lot of different pieces together if you want to create something great.
A study of 100 organizations identified these pieces that are crucial to building a sense of
engagement in your team.
- Variety of skills used. Most team members want to use all their skills, not just one or two day after day. They’ll be more satisfied with their jobs if they have regular opportunities to use their full range of talent.
- Deep involvement with stakeholders. This means a sense of really serving people: identifying stakeholder's needs and fulfilling them in meaningful ways, with the customer’s best interests in mind.
- Coordination within the enterprise. The back and front of the operation that work at cross-purposes to each other, or organizations where communication is inconsistent, don’t tend to attract and keep a highly committed workforce.
- Training opportunities. Training should address personal development, not just job duties. Talk to team members about what they’d like to learn so they can continue to grow and contribute more to the organization.
- Autonomy. Team members feel more engaged and fulfilled when they’re empowered to make decisions about how to do their jobs. Outline your store's priorities and assign tasks, but don’t micro-manage.
- Relationship with managers. The best managers create engagement by demonstrating their expertise (technical and managerial), and earn their people's respect by listening to their opinions and implementing the ideas that make sense.
4 Important Ways to Avoid Culture Creep
If your organization's culture is drifting away from core values, you've been afflicted with 'culture creep.' Oh no.
Many of us love going to the beach. One of the things associated with romping around in the water at the beach is how easy it is to drift away from where you’ve “pitched camp” on the sand.
We get focused on what we’re doing in the water and bit by bit we drift away from where we were. It’s not intentional, but the environment in which we’re operating has subtly shifted us to a different location. We experience this at more places than the beach.
One of the most common places is in the workplace. Unfortunately, the area most negatively affected by this is organizational culture. The effort of establishing a quality culture can be easily undermined by what we like to call culture creep.
Culture creep is a slow disintegration of many of the aspects we have purposefully put in place to maintain and perpetuate the culture we worked so diligently to create. When you’re in the ocean, you make it a point to occasionally look up from what you’re doing in the water so you don’t drift too far from where you established your place on the beach. Leadership must do this very thing in order to avoid allowing the day-to-day tasks to cause you to drift from what you established your culture to be. Culture creep.
Here are 4 important things to be aware of so you can avoid culture creep in your organization.
1. Maintain accountability - It rarely happens that an organization has this abrupt paradigm shift in its culture.
Accountability being consistently applied across the organization is absolutely imperative. Not just accountable for doing their job, but also for maintaining alignment with the organizational values. Your values are the foundation of your culture, so don’t allow your foundation to slowly crumble.
2. Crush double standards - The obvious of not playing favorites is the easy target. What is more challenging is making sure there isn’t a double standard for the employees and leadership. Few people, if any, will actually call out a leader who is operating under a double standard, but the impact on culture and morale will be unmistakable.
Once this begins, it’s extremely difficult to change without replacing the “rogue” leader.
3. Keep things public - Make it a point to take opportunities to highlight the actions of those who are exemplifying your desired culture. If there is a difficult decision that needs to be made and the solution is difficult or somewhat unpopular, yet it supports your culture, use this as an internal PR opportunity to boost your culture.
Culture is ubiquitous and should be treated as such from all aspects.
4. Celebrate small victories - There doesn’t have to be some gala event for every act that supports your culture; there does have to be recognition. Re-visit your rewards and recognition program and see how many of them include cultural nuances.
It can be a public, heartfelt “thank you” on the team level or something a little more grandiose for your annual event. Whatever level you decide, make sure it’s part of how you honor the efforts of people who support and perpetuate the culture of your organization.
Look around. Have you drifted?
The Role of Training in Shaping Culture
Training has a specific and unique role in the maintenance or the shaping of culture: Many company values and beliefs are disseminated though training programs, through onboarding programs and systems where new team members are "socialized"--first introduced to the organization's culture.
According to author Peter S. DeLisi, "shifts in the larger culture influence individuals, who in turn influence organizational culture, which in turn affects organizational structure."
To your greater success,
Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, trainer and Culture Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT
Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning we can help your create a high performance culture? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact:
Email: petercmclees@gmail.com or Mobile: 323-854-1713
Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, branches, distribution centers, food production facilities, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.
Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.
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