Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
Leaders play a critical role in building a strong organizational culture.
“Organizational culture is generally understood as all of a company’s beliefs, values and attitudes, and how these influence the behaviour of its employees.” (BDC)
Organizational culture boils down to BEHAVIOUR.
When you walk through those company doors, what do you notice? What do you see and hear when you sit back and observe those in meetings? What’s your overall interpretation of relationships when you read emails between employees or departments? How do employees interact with one another, whether formally or informally? What’s the general mood? When you leave for the day, how do you feel?
If you like what you see – great! If you don’t like what you see, it’s up to you to change it. Organizational culture can be a deciding factor in whether or not a company and its employees thrive or fail, and it’s up to leaders to drive cultural change.
Culture is the key to performance! Your workplace culture is your DNA and will multiply or delete your bottom line. See these statistics below:
- Having highly engaged employees can lead to a 202% increase in performance.
- A culture that attracts high-calibre employees leads to a 33% revenue increase.
When we ask companies, “How would you describe your workplace culture?” we often hear:
- “Not sure!”
- “Our culture is fine!”
- “We get stuff done, so there are no issues!”
- “Overall, people seem happy!”
- “There are no complaints about it!”
While this may be true, often, we find that culture is far from what companies or leaders describe it to be. Imagine the iceberg analogy. What leaders tend to focus on is what’s above the surface. True transformational change happens when we are brave enough to look at what’s beneath the iceberg.
Leaders who are invested in contributing to building and sustaining a strong workplace culture do this:
- Speak to and exhibit the company’s vision, mission and core values.
- Engage in conversations and view every encounter as an opportunity to connect with and support others.
- Ask the questions to mine for the issues.
- Invest in employees and professional development opportunities.
- Encourage transparency and open communication among all levels of the organization.
- Invite every employee to sit at the table and empower them to share their thoughts.
- Prioritize respect.
- Lead by example and model the behaviour, values, norms, working language, systems, beliefs, and habits they desire in the workplace.
The next time you step through those front doors, hop on a call, sit in a meeting, read an email or observe employees interacting, ask yourself – what am I seeing, hearing, and noticing? What role can I play in strengthening my workplace culture? What can I do daily to foster a culture that people want to be a part of now and tomorrow?
Remember that leaders are pivotal in setting and demonstrating behavioural standards and norms to shape a strong workplace culture. Leaders must consistently live and breathe these beliefs, values, and behaviours to build a foundation and maintain a healthy organizational culture.
What’s your workplace playbook? Are your behaviours contributing to a healthy workplace culture or creating a toxic one?
At Lead Vantage, we only know that your organization is unique, and your leadership development should be too. That’s why we offer a tailored approach that’s designed to meet your specific needs.
We’ll work hand-in-hand with you to identify areas for improvement and develop a program that aligns with your needs and goals.
We will help you achieve a stronger culture and tangible results, such as higher productivity, greater engagement, and better employee job satisfaction.
Contact us to learn more, or visit https://leadvantage.ca to discover what we can do for you.
Sofia Arisheh is a certified HR strategist, leader, and educator with extensive experience in multiple sectors. She specializes in aligning HR strategy with business strategy, focusing on employee-centric approaches to drive better business results.
