Ducks In A Row: Culture? Ask A Worm
by Miki Saxon
Company culture is a hot topic in the business press; CEOs are working to foster “cultures of innovation;” and culture is being lauded or blamed for a variety of happenings.
The bird’s eye view of what’s important in culture is as varied as the executives, academics, pundits, media and other experts who expound on the subject.
But what about the worm’s eye view—what do plain vanilla employees think and want? It’s important, since without them there is no company.
It used to be when I talked with people that it was easier for them to articulate the attitudes and behaviors they didn’t want to encounter in the workplace.
Even today, with a far more savvy and sophisticated workforce, people still tend to focus first on what they don’t want:
- Too much politics: personal, group, or in senior management.
- Unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Poor management practices such as erratic management; intimidation; micro-management; belittling or contemptuous treatment; poor scheduling; no loyalty; the attitude that “we don’t have enough time to do it right but we have enough time to do it over;” workaholism; etc.
- Any form of harassment, whether overt or covert
- A generally negative attitude, i.e., the glass is half empty
- Arrogance or an elitist attitude.
- An unwillingness (at whatever level) to seek and implement the compromises necessary to meet most of the organization’s needs within the required timeframe.
But when you get them to focus on the positives, the sophisticated and savvier mindset of today’s workforce is even more obvious when discussing the factors they desire.
Here are some of the high points that people say they want for themselves and from their managers and company:
- The opportunity to truly “make a difference.”
- To be treated fairly.
- To trust the management and be trusted by them.
- To embrace the idea that work can and should be fun.
- Accurate prioritizing of company, team, and individual goals while keeping them synergistic.
- A positive “can-do” attitude (aggressive, but realistic—the glass is half-full).
- Continuing development and quality improvement in people, products and services, and processes.
- Committing to employees, customers, and investors—and meeting those commitments.
- An open, accurate, company-wide flow of information starting from the top.
- An environment that encourages people to reach their full potential, professionally and personally.
- A conscious effort to stamp out “not invented here” syndrome (in all its varied forms) so as to not waste time reinventing the wheel.
There’s great value in this worm’s eye view. By eliminating what employees don’t like, and giving them what they want, you create a foundation on which to build the kind of innovative, profitable culture—the kind craved by investors, customers, and the rest of the outside world.
Your comments—priceless
Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL
Image credit: ZedBee|Zoë Power on flickr
September 29th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
[…] connecting with your staff and developing a strong, effective, workplace culture, please see this excellent post on the subject by Miki […]