How Important Is Culture To Effective Leadership And Employee Engagement?
Is There Such A Thing As The “Right” Culture?
It’s hard to talk about employee engagement or leadership without talking about the role of culture. Let’s start by clearly defining what we mean by culture. Merriam-Webster defines it as a sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguish one group from another and define the way of thinking, behaving and working in an organization or group. Simply stated, it’s not what we do, but how we do it. Beyond that, is there a clear definition of the “right” culture or the one we should embrace to be successful? It’s difficult to answer that question objectively because we all have our own ideas of a successful culture. I certainly have mine and I clearly know what kind of culture I want if I am going to be passionate about my work and relationships. However, I would propose that the question is not whether a culture is wrong or right, but rather it is wrong or right for you. Fully engaged and passionate employees are those who can reconcile their own values and beliefs with the culture of the organization for which they work. And in fact, more people fail because of cultural mis-alignment than because of technical incompetence. Imagine working for a company that believes that you win at any cost when your personal values are centered on integrity and doing the right thing. It would be nearly impossible to become a fully engaged and inspired employee and for that matter, to even stay at the company for any extended period of time.
The role of leadership is to clearly define the culture and then communicate it consistently and regularly. That’s the starting point. From there, successful engagement and effective leadership is based on how well that culture translates into behaviors and attitudes. It becomes all about execution. I have a friend who played pro football and he always told me that he would give the other team his game plan. If they could execute it, they win! Certainly a lot of work goes into defining and articulating the culture. But the heavy lifting comes during execution. People have to know that the culture is more than just words on a paper and that there are consequences for violating it. I was fortunate enough to meet a founder and Chief Executive of a global technology company in Silicon Valley and he explained to me that when they hire a manager, he/she is required to go through eight interviews, of which three are focused on technical competence. The other 5 are all about alignment with the culture. If during the interview, the candidate uses “I” a lot more than “we”, he/she is flagged as being out of synch with their culture of teamwork and collaboration.
Here are some tips for creating a culture that drives an engaged and inspired workforce
- Leadership must take the time to clearly define those behaviors and attitudes that define their desired culture.
- The culture must be aligned with the vision, strategy, Employee Value Proposition, and brand promise.
- Once defined and aligned, there must be a conscious effort to communicate the culture regularly and consistently. There is nothing more inequitable than disciplining or terminating an employee for violating the culture and values of an organization that they didn’t know or understand. I recall working for a company in which a manager was disciplined for leaving work early to see his child’s baseball game. Again, there is no wrong or right culture, but if family values were a strong part of this manager’s values and they were inconsistent with the culture of the company, he was inevitably heading for a showdown.
- There must be consequences for violating the company values and culture. If integrity is part of the culture and a manager does something unethical, even if it drives growth or sales, corrective action must be taken by senior leadership. If not, integrity is simply a word on a paper. That Executive from the Silicon Valley Company that put such a strong focus on culture, explained to me that he had terminated a high performing executive who did something to violate their values. The values and culture either mean something or they are hollow words that do nothing to build team alignment and engagement.
- The culture and values must become the scorecard against which behaviors, attitudes, and performance are measured for ALL employees and leaders. The first time a company looks the other way when the culture is violated because of the position of the person violating it, culture takes a major step backward as a unifying force.
So is there a wrong or right culture? As the old saying goes with beauty, “it’s in the eye of the beholder”. But to create an engaged and inspired workforce, leadership must be crystal clear about the values and culture and continually communicate and reinforce them to all employees. With everyone on the same page, you will create an organization of passionate employees who create passionate customers.