Culture’s been a buzz word in business for the last couple years! Yea! Finally! After decades of posting the concept that Culture drives Brand™ , the world of work is finally embracing the idea with gusto! That Brand Experience is the outcome of behaviors driven by Cultural norms, more than marketing slogans is key to some major performance doors going forward.
What’s also true is this: problems in corporate culture exist and they could wreak havoc on your operations. Here at Miick, we help brands find solutions to organizational culture problems before they kill productivity and employee morale.
Culture in place is, as often as not, a liability for businesses both small and large. How so?
Culture happens, it simply is. As often as not, Culture is ritual and unconscious! These unconscious habits or norms in a company get modeled more than touted. Culture ends up being an outcome of chance and old habits, more than choice. Headline: Culture is a choice! We need not be creatures of habit, just because the habit exists. We can create “Culture by Choice, Not Chance™.” At Miick, we do this constantly with our clients, time and again with success.
Headline: Culture IS a Choice!
I often get asked, “How do I know if my culture’s a liability or an asset?” You can start by keeping an eye out for these five unmistakable signs of bad company culture.
5. A New Hire Gets Told What’s “Really True” 3 Days In…
The public brand and persona is, “This is a great place to work!”
Sure enough, the Onboarding and Orientation goes pretty. New hire inspiration exudes!
At the same time, there are subtle “cracks in the dike” along the way. Yelling, angry faces, aggressive tones of voice, lack of cleanliness or positive feedback are all warning signs of bad company culture.
Sure enough, within the first three days of work, co-workers offer direct comments about what really happens here, here’s what you can really expect. This process is quiet, shared on breaks, on Zoom post meetings, or at the bar after work. Before long, the inspired new hire has gone native. The rock star that began with us, silently slips into the shadow norms of culture. And, worse, the good ones leave.
4. We’re Better at Catching People Doing Stuff Wrong Than Right
Another common issue in organizational culture is when Trainers, Managers, and Co-workers, coach to the negative.
Feedback is closer to hand slaps than coaching! Focus is on what didn’t work, or what needs to be edited, or shouldn’t have been done. If your company has listed values or a mission, the values are used as hammers, prefaced with, “you didn’t…” instead of coaching to the positive. Instead, find what worked well and build on that!
From Miick: “Be a coach, not a cop!”™
3. Sarcasm is the Humor or “Coaching” of Choice
Sarcasm is about power, insider information and “othering.” Sarcasm also drives drama and indicates an underlying organizational culture issue. The second you call me out on my sarcastic or sideways comment, I duck and plead, “I was just kidding!” You and I, and your team, know you weren’t.
Sarcasm is not to be confused with performance feedback. At the very least, sarcasm sends mixed signals to anyone but the most intimate friend … even then, there’s a tiny cut that need not be there. At worst, sarcasm is deadly; it is fear-based instead of courageously stating the real story! Beware of sarcasm in the workplace.
2. Finger Pointing with Absolutes, Single Value Reasons, Stories and Excuses
You know the drill. Here comes a staff member or manager running to you or HR with an issue that’s huge for them!
As often as not we’ll hear phrasing that includes absolutes like, “everyone” or “no one,” “all the time,” or “never.” If you have defined values, support to this transgression is typically offered with the use of a single company value.
First opportunity: Thanks for coming in and sharing.
Second opportunity: Who’s everyone? Or, when you say “always,” how many times in the last week?
Third opportunity: What other values apply? Or how would you integrate other values into this issue?
And there’s more… ☺
1. The Real Meeting is “After the Meeting”
This habit shows up in two ways. 1. The management team, or all staff, or board sits silently in the meeting. When asked, “Do you have any questions?” Silence is the response. Another variation is that one or two people dominate the meeting, with little to no support, pushback, or debate.
In these two meeting norms, two equally frequent outcomes occur:
Habit 1: After the meeting, the real meeting happens at the “water cooler,” bar, on Zoom, or in the parking lot: Resistance, debate, and pushback show up in earnest; “he/she”, “they”, and “those guys” and likely as not “f-bombs” (or the equivalent) get thrown around like a hot potato.
Habit 2: The people that did take the risk to speak up did so out of habit, likely as not, and allowed other folks to stay silent. Then in the meeting after the meeting they’re as easily blamed for lack of movement as the leaders themselves, OR, are left as either heroes or victims “trying their best!” and failing again…
Here are some options:
Action 1: Have the real meeting in the meeting. Listen as much as speak. Instead of asking, “Do you have any questions?”, change the frame and expect/invite questions by asking, “What questions do you have?”
Action 2: Name the elephant in the room (I call it the “moose in the room”) as fast as possible. As appropriate, consider beginning a meeting with this: Who’s got a moose?
(Heck, name your animal of choice: Elephant, 800 lb. gorilla). Have fun with this exploration of a deeper truth that really needs to get addressed! Sooner the better!
This list could as easily be the top 10 list, or top 20 list. These five points will get you started on building a company or corporate culture by choice not chance!
For more on the “how to” of healthy, dynamic Corporate Culture, visit: miick.com
Call: 303-413-0400.
