A theme has emerged in several workplaces we are currently working with to help them shape their culture. Each of these workplaces have solid workplace cultures but are striving to create excellent ones. In each of them, we have been asked the same pair of questions.
The question from the leaders.How much impact do the decisions we make have? Decisions are only intentions, but culture comes down to what everyone does and the choices they make.
The question from team members.Do our choices actually make a difference? Leaders have all the influence.
In one workplace, a team member described this with an analogy. What’s the point of the separating my recycling if the oil companies don’t change their practices?
Starting with the assumption that everyone wants to work in the best workplace culture possible, both perspectives are valid.
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Speaker 1:
Before we get into today's episode, we want to acknowledge the privilege of living and working on Aboriginal land and we pay our respects to the Elders, past, present and emerging. This is an audio blog. If you prefer to read it in its original text version, please visit reallearningcomau forward slash blog. A theme has emerged in several workplaces we're currently working with to help them shape their culture. Each of these workplaces have solid workplace cultures, but they're striving to create excellent ones. In each of them, we've been asked the same pair of questions. The question from the leaders how much impact do the decisions we make really have? Decisions are, after all, only intentions, but culture comes down to what everyone does and the choices they make. The question from team members do our choices actually make a difference? Leaders have all the influence In one workplace. A team member described this with an analogy what's the point of separating my recycling if the oil companies don't change their practices? Starting with the assumption that everyone wants to work in the best workplace culture possible, both perspectives are valid.
Speaker 1:
Do leaders have a disproportionate influence on workplace culture? Absolutely Sure. They make the big decisions about policies and systems, but, more importantly, they model or they should model the culture they're striving to create, they coach individuals and they facilitate team dynamics to align with that ideal workplace culture. In our experience, there are very few exceptionally good or exceptionally bad employees and I say that in inverted commas. There are just normal people responding to the workplace culture and leadership they're exposed to. Now, when we refer to employees in inverted commas, we mean people as they exist in the workplace, whether they're frontline contributors, middle managers or senior executives. Think about yourself. I bet you've been a great employee in at least one workplace, possibly an average one somewhere else, and maybe even a mediocre one in another workplace. What was the difference? Not you, not your personality, values or character. I bet it was a lot to do with what it was like to work in that workplace and what your manager was like, whatever level the culture was at. Most people reading this article tended to reinforce the culture rather than alter it.
Speaker 1:
So, yes, leaders have a disproportionate influence and they need to lead the way in culture change, but it's not that simple. While people respond to the leadership they're exposed to, we all still have a choice as to how we respond. Even if the oil companies aren't changing their practice, how does it help if we don't separate our recycling, reduce our waste, etc. Wouldn't we be better off, even marginally, if we did what we could do? And that's where the analogy stops being useful. While the oil companies are probably doing very little to reduce their impact on the environment, leadership teams almost always are doing things, even if those things are not having immediate impacts and are not as visible as they could be. Even when some people believe they should be doing different things, more things, quicker things, leaders are actually doing things which should be obvious when they've contracted as to work on the Gold Show. The reality is that, while a leader has a disproportionate influence compared to other team members, there are disproportionately more team members than leaders. One current client has a CEO, eight executive members, 25 managers and team leaders and around 300 other team members. That makes 34 people in management roles compared to around 300 non-management team members. The sum of choices by those 300 team members can be significant and can drive meaningful cultural change towards the culture those team members and the managers want, which brings us to the sphere of influence and how it impacts workplace culture.
Speaker 1:
Some people want to work in a better culture. They recognise there are things they can't change and they become frustrated they need to give voice to that frustration. So they complain to other people, usually people who are equally unable to change those things. In doing so, negativity spreads, frustration becomes outrage and now they have something new to complain about. The workplace is so negative.
Speaker 1:
Other people want a better culture. They recognise there are things they can't change, so they focus on the things they can do. They align their own actions with the workplace culture they want. They help solve problems, they provide a counterpoint to negativity, and so on. In other words, they do the things that are in their control. As a result, they win respect from their colleagues and from their managers, and their influence grows. The bottom line message is that everyone in the workplace influences the workplace culture in some way. The more each person, at every level, takes responsibility for their own impact on the culture and for doing what they can do, the more their individual influence grows and the quicker the organisation moves towards that ideal culture, the ideal culture that everyone wants.