Does Your Company Culture Need A Tune-Up?

As a leadership consultant, I am being called upon more than ever.

Companies are realizing that good leaders are required in today's unpredictable business climate. They need to provide the necessary resources to help set their leaders up for success.

Many organizations who fostered a "figure it out on your own" culture are now watching the proverbial cracks form in their foundation under the stress of the pandemic. Case in point, those companies with antiquated business processes and infrastructure (i.e. everyone must work in the office), faced revenue interruptions and heavy costs associated with the transition to create a fully remote workforce. 

According to Gallup, managers influence 70% of employee engagement. If your managers aren’t engaged in their role then that will directly affect employee engagement.  

Conversely, those companies with cultures that are modernized, where everyone is connected regardless of location, continue to flourish. Our current business climate has exposed yet another crisis — a "culture crisis".

Depending upon where your organization falls on the spectrum referenced above, this could be good news or bad news for the company, as employees are taking notice. More often than not, it has become apparent to employees that the core values they were ordained with in the orientation process are not being lived out in the behaviors of their leaders. As the great John Maxwell has stated, "a crisis reveals what is inside of us".

Another way to look at it is to compare this "revealing" to owning and maintaining a fine sports car. It may look good on the outside with its sleek design, but on the inside, the warning light is on due to no one taking on the responsibility for maintaining it.

It's been driven fast, the owner pushed the pedal every time it was driven, causing engine strain and teeing up the inevitable breakdown of what was a high-performance engine. 

By contrast, this occurs often in companies as employees fall for the allure of the slick office space, the on-site coffee bar, and game room. Once they are on the inside, the warning lights pop up and quickly become visible. Sure they attracted the best talent inside, but without maintenance, the future of many employees is doomed. Redlining your staff for profits will only yield short-term benefits. There must be an intentional effort to build and sustain a culture beyond what is taught on orientation day.

Company culture is frequently the intangibles within the company. You can't always see it, but you feel it. When it's right, it can be electric.

The greatest driving force within a company culture is its core values. Very often when I am coaching, I discover those core values are stuck in the pages of an employee handbook and never surface in the behaviors of the leaders — what's the point! The values should be highly visible through the actions of the leadership team and as easy to discover as a bright bumper sticker on the back of a car.

The culture must shift to keep pace with the times and be nimble enough to shift gears quickly or risk being left in the dust. If the leaders are not driving the behaviors of the core values, the organization will remain neutral or even worse… crash, which will result in big losses along the way (e.g. lose top performers, lack of engagement, productivity, and profits).

Many of the organizations that I consult with soon realize it isn’t a culture problem they have, it’s a leader problem. They need to equip their internal leaders with the tools and resources needed to be successful through challenging times.

I am currently working with many organizations (small, medium, and large) to create sustainable leadership development programs that play to the strengths of their leaders and funnel down to the employees they serve.

It is time for you to take action by having a professional look under the hood of your organization and conduct a leadership diagnostic check.

I will equip your leaders with the necessary tools to help them through this challenging time and make certain they are better prepared for the future.

For more information on my leadership development and coaching programs click here. I am currently booking clients for the fall.

To your growth,

Kelly