I was recently reading an interview with Rob May, Managing Director at Ramsac, an IT support company based out of the U.K. He shared the ‘cauliflower story’ which immediately sparked the organizational culture debate. More about the cruciferous vegetable story later.
Workplace culture is often described as the ‘personality’ of an organization and consists of a pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that may not have been articulated but shape the ways in which people in organizations behave and things get done. ‘Values’ refer to what is believed to be important about how people and organizations behave. ‘Norms’ are the unwritten rules of behavior.
Simply put, how do your staff members talk about the organization to their friends and family. Alternatively, how does the team behave when senior leadership is not around? Does the behavior reflect the organization’s culture? And this opens up a whole chapter on its own. Nowadays, as part of their onboarding program, companies opt to ask new hires to watch a short video about the organization’s history, mission, values and culture as an introduction to their new workplace. And whilst there’s no wrongdoing here, organizations cannot use this tool in isolation. Assuming that new hires now understand the culture and will be living and breathing it is a deceptive truth.
In a Deloitte study, an impressive 94% of executives (senior leaders) and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to business success. Exceptional organizations create and sustain a culture that engages and motivates their employees. 83% of executives and 84% of employees rank having engaged and motivated employees as the top factor that substantially contributes to a company’s success. There is a correlation between employees who say they are ‘happy at work’ and feel ‘valued by [their] company’ and those who say their organization has a clearly articulated and lived culture. Organizational culture takes time to develop and it is not easy to change. For it to reap the desired results, leaders must model it at every interaction with the team, clients and vendors. Culture must be supported, acknowledged and celebrated. And when the right culture is not displayed by members of the team, it is imperative to bring it to their attention and take necessary steps to re-calibrate.
Going back to the cauliflower story, Rob May simplified the concept of organizational culture as he described how customer service at a local supermarket is the direct result of the culture of that company (and this could be applied to any business.) He relates how a customer might walk into Supermarket A to buy a bottle of wine. On his way out, he remembers he also needs a cauliflower but since he had never visited this supermarket before, he asked a staff member. The latter might walk with him to the fruit and vegetable section, show him the array of brassica vegetables and recommend a specific one which would go well with the wine. The staff member might ask whether there was anything else he could assist with, walk the client to the cash register and wish him a lovely day.
At Supermarket B, the staff member might walk the customer to the end of the aisle and point to the fruit and vegetable section. At Supermarket C, the employee might look at the client, shrug their shoulders and walk away.
An organization’s culture is directly reflected in the way things are done, said and practiced, whether leaders are present or not. To gain an understanding of the culture of an organization, its written and unwritten rules should be examined alongside the relationships, values and behaviors displayed by its people. A few vital factors to consider include assessing communication styles, the nature of decision making, the level of approachability towards leaders, transparency and quality of information sharing, clarity of work expectations and teamwork.
Company culture needs to be at the heart of everything as an organization for the business to thrive. This means setting the right values in place from day one, ensuring the team understands them and lives by them on a daily basis, and then showcasing that culture consistently.
The more an organization works on its company culture, the easier it will be to access an engaged, productive and happier workforce, that will, in turn, reflect in excellent customer service. So the crucial question is, ‘If customers entered your ‘Supermarket’ today, would they think your staff members resemble those from Supermarket A, B or C?’