Extreme Makeover: Corporate Culture Edition

How often do we think about corporate culture? Better question – How often do we think about changing corporate culture?

I happened to come across this list of the top 10 ways you can tell your corporate culture needs addressing.  You can click on the link to see all 10, but I’ve listed my favorites below:

• You’re becoming the most tenured person in your department – and you’ve only been there 13 months.
• At 4:00 pm Sunday night you get a feeling of dread – thinking about Monday.
• When you’re asked what do you like best about your company…and your answer really doesn’t relate to the company.
• You know your corporate culture needs attention when you wouldn’t want your friends to join the company.

While I think this list is spot on, I kind of feel like it preaches to the choir.  In her blog post on fixing corporate culture, Liz Ryan says that “the only way to fix a damaged culture is to make a habit of listening and responding to employee concerns.”

The problem is that while employees tend to have more of an awareness (or at least desire) of a need for cultural change in their companies, they won’t necessarily voice it.  And management should really be the driving force in implementing that change. So where’s their list?  After all, shouldn’t they be concerned if the culture they’ve either helped to create or maintain is killing their workforce’s morale?  With that in mind, I put together my own list – employer edition – of indicators that corporate culture needs addressing: 

1. Your employees have taken creative license with the term “working 9 to 5.” They stroll in late, take frequent breaks and rush out early on a regular basis – and don’t seem to care who notices. 
2. Your employees never seem to take a break from work. They seem to have more work than they can handle, but for some reason, they almost seem afraid to say so.
3. Office birthday parties aren’t so much “parties” anymore.  You have to organize mandatory fun in the office. 
4. Your employees’ jokes aren’t really “ha ha” funny.  They make jokes about how much they hate their job…well, at least they sound like jokes. 

Of course, just becoming aware of a need for change doesn’t mean change will come about.  You need to be willing to put time and energy into it; unfortunately, as Timothy F. Prosser observes in this recent On Effective Management post, “It is easy to become conditioned to expect abuse or just poor quality management behavior from one’s superiors,” which could explain why so many companies get away with poor management practices.   But when you consider the cost that stem from these practices, like high turnover and lost production, why wouldn’t you work to change?

I’d think that more companies would take a cue from companies likes Goldman Sachs and Whole Foods, who put their employees’ interest first – and in turn reap the financial benefits of a loyal and hardworking workforce.  But it seems as though they need a bigger sell than the argument that “it boosts employee morale, which ultimately affects the bottom line.” 

So what does it take to recognize the need for and then work to fully implement such a change?  Do you agree that corporate culture largely a product of management style? How would you define a “good” corporate culture?  Or more importantly, how would your employees do so?

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• Posted by: Mary Lorenz on September 23, 2008
• Have a response? Join the discussion.
• Categories: Employee Engagement, Employee Retention