Week 3 – HOW Expectations
Lesson 8 The Power of Culture
Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” You could have the best strategies, priorities, products, and services, but if your culture is terrible then it becomes increasingly challenging to deliver on what you promise.
Culture is defined as “how we do things around here” and can include
Behaviours A common culture-building practice is the creation of value statements. But the real test is how leaders behave; how they enact these values, or don’t. People watch everything leaders do. If leaders are not exhibiting the behaviours that reflect the values, the values are meaningless.
Systems Every process that is created, every system installed, every technology that is used, every structure that is designed, every job title that is given will reinforce or dilute the culture. There are five key systems that are important to the overall cultural system: Hiring, Strategy and Goal Setting, Assessing, Developing, Rewarding
Practices include everything from company events, running meetings, feedback processes, to how decisions are made.
Optional Read for more on the above read the Harvard Business Review article on Why Great Employees Leave “Great Cultures”
Behaviours, systems, and practices are about creating meaning by understanding why we do things, and where do I belong in this. 83% say it is very important life has meaning or purpose (and I would hazard the remaining said “somewhat” important). The challenge is less than 50% of all workers feel strongly connected to their organisation’s mission. However if they do, there is 30-50% fewer safety incidents and 15-30% lower staff turnover. This is because they care.
We want to know our work matters. Gallup research identified 5 key areas that influence our wellbeing (Career, Social, Financial, Physical, Community) with career as the biggest influencer. We spend 40 hours a week, which is 2,080 hours a year, 93,600 hours over our working lifetime. We spend too much time at work for it not to matter.
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