‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast, every day, every time’
Management Guru, Peter Drucker was a firm believer that a business’s culture normally thwarts any attempt to create or enforce a strategy that is incompatible with that culture.
Is your organisation’s culture enabling or disabling your strategy? Are you unsure what your culture actually is, or confused about how to cut to the chase on cultural development?
Culture determination starts at the top. As an employer, here are three questions to ask yourself. When you align those answers with how you would like things to be and feel, and test them against what others want, it might bring some clarity.
The questions to ask are simply, Why, What and How.
Q1. WHY should someone work here?
Is your WHY simply because you have a vacancy to fill and you need to get someone to do the job? It’s highly likely this is completely at odds with an applicant’s perspective. If all an applicant wants is to have a job, you are probably hiring the wrong person. Remember it is a competitive world and job seekers have more than one choice. The person you actually need in your business to help you achieve your goals is an applicant who will be thinking, “Why would someone want to come and work here, instead of somewhere else? Why is it attractive to me?”
Q2. WHAT will someone get and experience when they work here?
Is your WHAT the basic requirements you must supply for an employee, rather than personal and professional benefits? For example, a desk, standard employment terms (four weeks’ leave, salary and super) and a difficult relationship for sub-standard job performance? If so, you are more likely to get an applicant that is happy with less than average conditions and not a person who will help build a successful organisation.
A good applicant is thinking deeper and looking for much more, such as personal and career development opportunities, above the line staff benefits, flexibility, autonomy and team engagement. A place where they want to get up in the morning and go to work.
Q3. HOW will they leave?
Do you expect them to leave quickly, if they’re going to a competitor? Do you expect your employee to leave with standard severance pay, outstanding leave entitlements and maybe a reference? However, if your answer is something along the lines of, “They will leave as a better person. They will have advanced their career. They will be proud of their time with your company and what we achieved together” – you are probably on the right track.
Stop and compare your WHY, WHAT and HOW answers and you’ll have a very clear statement on the culture you have today in comparison to WHERE you want your business to be. You might be surprised by the gap.
Remember, culture is not what you can see, but how people feel.
As an employer, if you recognise yourself in any of these statements, it’s time to make a change. Before you start looking for new employees, stop thinking about your need and consider what you can offer.
eccoConsultants provides specialist advice on developing and nurturing business culture. We are happy to offer you a 90-minute complimentary obligation free consultation as a starting point. Simply click here and complete the contact form.
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