I was in a grocery store just yesterday and two employees were complaining about their boss loud enough for all the customers in the area to hear every word. I watched the other shoppers quickly grab their produce and leave the area, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. Granted the two workers should have found a less public area to air their frustrations, but this situation said far more about the company and some underlying cultural issues.
Here’s the thing, you can’t control what your employees or customers say about your company. They’re going to say what they want and they have so many places to say it. Your culture is being broadcast 24/7 these days. So If you can’t outright control the message or the delivery, then what can you do?
First of all you need to understand how your culture developed into what it is. Culture isn’t created in the board room. You won’t find it in one of those nicely crafted mission statements or on a plaque on the wall in the lobby. Those are largely ignored. It’s not in your brand, your logo, or your employee handbook either.
No, culture is everywhere in the organization. What you do as a leader or as an organization must match what you say. Sure the big stuff matters but the details will make you who you are. People can see right through your mission statement, whether you’re living it or not. What you do, your actions, follow thru and how you treat people, that is what truly matters at the end of the day. You could argue office politics, demographics, location and a long list of other contributing factors define the culture and they do, if you don’t handle the basics of human interaction then it gets real messy in a hurry.
If you want a better culture here are three things that will make an immediate impact:
1. Honor Your Word
Think about when you were younger and your parents promised you something. If they didn’t deliver on it, well it probably didn’t take long for skepticism to set in. Your words and commitments are a social contract and one of the greatest social currencies available to you. It’s as simple as keeping your commitments and since you’re not perfect, face up to it immediately when you don’t or if you know you won’t be able to. No excuses.
2. All Way Communication
Transparency and authenticity are thrown around a lot these days and with good reason. Keeping people in the dark will only hurt you in the end. Allow communication to go in all directions because that is how an organization learns and develops. Cross pollination of ideas doesn’t happen very well within a silo and the rapid development of ideas is a must in today’s environment.
3. Be Proactive
Jump in and get busy. You can’t affect change if you don’t play an active role in identifying what’s really going on. You need real input for that to happen. Get an outsider’s perspective, Be observant without being creepy. Ask, ask, ask! Ask your people for their input. However if there is a real threat of retribution then you won’t get honest answers. That’s more about you than them. Most importantly listen without judgement.
If you’ll work on these basics, then you’re on your way to making something better or even great happen. Stop talking so much and start doing more. As far as words go, they’re cheap……Culture speaks louder than words.
