And that way will have been created and then evolved in exactly the same way as cultures have for millions of years.
Humans are hard-wired to be social creatures and we have long understood that culture exists any time a group of people come together. Moreover, when we were hunting and gathering our brains produced either helpful or hindering chemicals that helped us work together to survive and thrive. Today, we may wear suits and carry laptops, but the fundamental make-up of our brains hasn’t actually changed that much and we still produce those same chemicals that will determine whether we can work together productively or not.
What we also understand better now, however, is how aligning people with a very deliberate culture produces better business outcomes. If we can create an environment where those positive chemicals and hormones are released more often, we actually get more collaboration. We get higher performance and we get intrinsic motivation. This can even be quantified to the point where it’s possible to calculate the X amount of extra revenue that a positive culture can create.
Deeper understanding
This means that, in organisations, the cultures that exist have to be about getting people to work together cooperatively to develop trust.
The way to achieve this may sound simple on paper, but takes skill and a deep understanding of human nature – it requires hiring staff with cultural fit as the most important consideration. Forward-thinking organisations have moved the needle on hiring solely for skillsets and now think very hard about employing people who culturally fit their organisations.
And it’s a two-way process, as today there are more people who are not just looking for basic employment. Younger generation hires can be very discerning and they will make a choice based not on ‘I have a family to support and so I need a job’, but on whether the organisation shares their values and beliefs. If the culture is lacking or weak, the best candidates will simply look elsewhere.
The same page
So how do you get consensus on your own company’s culture and how do you mould it to work well? First, be clear about what you value – both what you currently do and what you need to do to achieve your business objectives and make sure the language you use resonates and captures what makes your business unique. If you need more customer focus, for example, how do you want your people to think, talk and act when interacting with customers? What do you not want your people to think, say and do? Ensure you tap into your strengths and don’t be afraid to be a little aspirational.
Once you’re clear about what ‘customer centricity’ looks like, find all the ‘moments’ that matter – how do you recognise and reward your people for being customer centric, how do you allocate resources, how do you celebrate success, how do you structure your customer facing teams, for example. Look at incremental and continuous improvements and be prepared for it to take time. Perhaps the biggest influence on culture, organisational values and your people’s behaviour is leadership. Leaders create the environment your people and customers experience, so continually invest in developing leadership capability in those who lead your people. The soft skills required to lead others well are actually much harder to develop and sustain than technical skills.
Culture is harder to see from the inside, so an outside eye can offer objective advice and provide tools and recommendations to ensure that an organisation has a solid cultural base and everything it does builds on and enhances that, while the negative elements are eliminated.
And it’s always worth it. Your staff will thank you… and so will your bottom line.