I was recently asked by a Fortune 100 company, to describe my coaching philosophy. I responded that after the perfunctory meet-and-greet with the client and 360 interviews of his team, I like to begin with a vision, values and culture exercise. All leaders, regardless of industry, function or experience need to 1) define and communicate a clear, concise and compelling vision; 2) define a set of values by which the team will pursue that vision; and 3) integrate those values into the operating culture of the organization.
Many leaders are usually quite good at the vision and values piece of the puzzle; however, even the best leaders fall short is in the third phase of this exercise. They do not effectively integrate the values they develop into the operating culture of their team or organization. We have seen this cultural failure in several high profile organizations including Uber, the NFL and the NYPD.
In organizations where there is strong alignment between behaviors and values, you find that those values are at the foundation of 8 key elements of the organizational culture. These eight elements include:
Communication
The manner in which your team communicates with each other, customers, clients, vendors and other internal and external parties is probably the most visible indicator of team culture. It is reveals itself in every single interaction. Such communication is both verbal and non-verbal. It is also contagious. The values of your team must align with
- How employees communicate with each other
- How employees communicate with customers & clients
- How managers communicate with direct reports
- How you hold people accountable for their communication style
Product / Service Delivery
The project management triangle is a well known framework. The three elements are: Quality, Time, Cost. It is important for everyone in the organization to understand both the expectations and trade-offs for these three elements. Those expectations and trade-offs should be reflected in every operating decision that is made. For instance at Zappos, customer service is a priority. They invest weeks of training into their people before they start (cost & time) in order to deliver the best customer service (quality). There is a common belief that you can't optimize for all three of these. At best you can optimize for two. In other words, you can deliver something fast and cheap but quality will suffer; or you can deliver something high quality and quickly but it will cost you.
- What is the quality level that you want for each of your primary products/services?
- What trade-offs are you willing to make regarding cost and timing?
- Is that message consistently applied across the organization?
- What resources are in place to assist in this prioritization?
Recruitment
The most effective way to shape and reinforce the culture of an organization is to recruit and hire individuals who reflect the organization’s culture and values. The adverse is also true. If you hire individuals who do not embrace the culture or reflect the values of the organization, you risk destabilizing the entire team. In order to recruit the right people, there must be a firm commitment to integrating the cultural values into the selection process. There should be an equal emphasis give to these softer factor as there is to hard skills. The values of your team must align with:
- How you screen candidates throughout the recruitment process
- How you introduce new hires to your culture
- Who is involved in the recruitment process
Lifestyle
The lifestyle of your team is most directly associated with the "culture" of you team. Lifestyle is a very broad category. It includes the hours people work, whether you have a ping pong table in the office, and perks like free lunches or a flexible vacation policy. Many team leaders shy away from making adjustments to lifestyle issues because they feel there is an inherent financial or productivity cost. However, there are plenty of adjustments that cost little or nothing but have a meaningful effect on employee engagement and productivity. The values of your team must align with:
- How the team has "fun"
- How much flexibility people have with respect to where and when they work
- The policy on vacation / personal days
- Expectation to work weekends / long hours
- Expectation to be available at all times
Collaboration
Team collaboration is another powerful indicator of team culture. How team members support each other in their daily interactions may have a huge effect on team productivity, work life balance and job satisfaction. Organizational structure and performance measures play a significant role in how team members act in collaborative environments. For instance, if you expect people to work together to serve clients, but you give bonuses only to the person who serves as lead client manager, you will find others less inclined to assist. The values of your team must align with:
- How are people expected to work together within groups?
- How are people expected to work together across groups?
- How do individuals / groups share success / recognition?
- Is philosophy of collaboration consistent with individual financial incentives?
Recognition & Rewards
Recognition and rewards are not only ways to celebrate those who reinforce the culture, they serve as an important indicator of the culture itself. How does the organization recognize high performance? How often does it occur? Is it formal or informal? These are all questions that shape the culture of your team. Recognition is an area where managers often think they are doing enough but direct reports think there is more to be done. Rewards are another indicator of team culture. Rewards are the tangible and intangible benefits someone receives from being recognized. In some cases, the recognition itself is the reward. In other cases, there may be additional more tangible compensation (e.g. bonus, days off, etc.)
Things to consider:
- How will people be recognized?
- How often are people recognized?
- Is the recognition formal or informal?
- How will people be rewarded?
- Does the company use financial incentives to reward people?
- Do manager or team members have the ability to recognize / reward individuals?
Image
The way in which the culture of your team is most apparent to external parties is the "image" that team members project. There are several key elements of image: Attire, Grooming, Mannerisms, Assets and Branding. The image of a team is initially defined in the recruiting process. Individuals come into the company with a pre-defined personality and background. However, team culture can significantly influence the behaviors and values of individuals. For instance how people dress, what kind of cars they drive, and how they style their hair are all subject to organizational pressures and influence.
Things to consider:
- What is the personality of people you generally recruit?
- What is the academic background of people on the team?
- What is the team dress code?
- How are people expected to act in their non-work hours?
Professional Development
How the team develops its people is another indicator of culture. This may be the element that the team leader has the most control over. It is also an area where most leaders feel they have the least amount of training and expertise. Like communication, the culture of development is contagious. If a leader develops his people, his people are more likely to invest in the development of themselves and their own direct reports.
Things to consider:
- What is the employee expected to do to grow?
- What is the organization committed to do to aid growth?
- What resources are available to facilitate growth?
- Are employees given time for personal/professional growth?
- Is there a formal process of feedback and development?
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