Are you killing your company culture with legacy people practices that don’t deal with modern day dilemmas?
Company culture (a set of behaviours and norms unique to each org) is a crucial component of any successful organization. It can determine the level of engagement, productivity, and overall happiness of employees. In the past few years, this has become a major spotlight and an area of change. However, many companies are unknowingly sabotaging their own culture or defaulting to what they did previously by relying on outdated people practices that fail to address modern-day dilemmas. From change in recent policies to ineffective leadership, these legacy practices can drive away top talent and create a toxic work environment. In this assessment, we quickly explore the 3 ways in which outdated or ignored people practices can harm company culture and provide insights on how to adapt to the changing needs of today's workforce.
Work Environment
Your company has updated its hybrid/remote/in-office policies, and employees are showing low engagement, questioning guidelines, and a general sense of distrust. Sound familiar?
As a leader, have you done the following?
Provide clear communications such as:
'Why' the policy changed and address concerns that have been commonly brought up - the People team and Managers are well connected to feedback.
Impact on the business on what has worked well and what has not worked well through business results and People metrics - it's the start of Q2, a good reason to check in!
Shared accountability by including teams on the co-creating scenarios and decisions through either an engagement survey or focused discussions.
2. Provide clear guidelines for asynchronous communication.
As a company, are there committed times (i.e. quarterly, monthly, or weekly) to share information and open up Q&A? Your teams need to see the shared purpose and to be brought in and along on goals everyone is striving towards - aligning to a compelling reason.
Intentional use of technology for collaboration. Whether you use Teams, Slack, gchat or other preferred channels - when and what is discussed in these channels? This practice is about creating boundaries.
Is there self awareness of Leaders regarding expectations & accessibility? Do all teams understand expectations and boundaries of core working hours including different time zones?
Clear agendas & efficient meetings. Do you set a clear purpose, problems to address and follow-ups? This is the fastest way to frustrate team members juggling life and work.
3. Fostering genuine connections. Speak with you team together and individually.
A one-on-one conversation can never be replaced. Do you know how they best work and when they do their best work? Some people are more focused at different times of the day, have you created space so your team is most productive at their peak working times or have you created a schedule around YOU?
There are always compromises but here is where you get intentional.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
Representation at the individual and manager levels of your company is a good start, but what about at the leadership level? Without diverse perspectives and opinions, your team members won't recognize contributions as meaningful.
Diversity is a numbers game, a starting point. Belonging is a culture shift and an ongoing journey.
Do you have some of these practices in place?
In recruitment, have you shared policies and practices to ensure representation in final candidate selection? Are hiring managers are trained as well?
Highlight progress and equal pay in compensation strategy (*spoiler alert, pay transparency is happening!).
Raise and highlight voices of underrepresented individuals in critical areas of the company (i.e., in manufacturing).
Commit to DEIB targets and goals from the Board level throughout the organization.
Ask engagement questions to ensure all employees feel safe expressing opinions to leadership, including the CEO.
Feedback & Accountability
Your company participates in conducting annual reviews with some informal conversations in between.
It’s a lengthy time consuming process which includes self reflection, peer reviews and feedback from your leader of what has been accomplished in the past year. How it ties to business goals is unclear.
It’s time to scrap that process. Here are some arguments to consider.
It is inefficient and costly for the business - especially at smaller companies.
Inaccurate reflection of a fast-moving industry.
Focus on the past instead of providing real-time feedback and providing future focused engagement.
Lack of transparency and inability to build trust with your team.
In times of scale/growth, are the individual and shared accountabilities recognized?
Continuous feedback and regular check-ins lead to openness and transparency, helping teams move quicker with intentional alignment.