After all that’s been written and discussed it shouldn’t surprise you to know that most people crave a positive corporate culture and an open-door policy, but would it surprise you that this desire isn’t a product of the US or even the industrialized west?

Yesterday I mentioned I would share a universal truth from an unlikely source.

A positive corporate culture (40% of respondents) and an open-door policy (100%) are the two key elements of an ideal workplace, according to a recent region-wide human resource (HR) survey conducted by IIR Middle East.

Employee engagement and transparency were also found to be essential to enhanced employee performance within an organizational culture.

One of the reasons I find this so intriguing is not so much the desires themselves, but the local in which they are found.

Granted, my knowledge of the Middle East is limited, but the prevailing customs and culture don’t seem particularly conducive to the development of that kind of MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) in management

(And this has nothing to do with an Islamic vs. Judeo-Christian sub-text.)

Workers all seem to want the same thing, whether in the Mid-East, North and South America, Europe, Russia, India or Asia.

Of course, the surface results of implementing those desires might look different, but the basic cravings that drive them are the same, as is the main stumbling block—management.

Changes in transparency, door policy, not killing the messenger, etc. require changes in managers’ MAP and those changes can not be ordered or implemented from the outside in.

Flickr image credit: FlyingSinger

Image credit:Ken Meador

If you have a soapbox you’ll understand the thrill that comes from finding others who have the same one.

My soapbox is corporate culture and those who walk their talk (AKA practice what they preach) and I just read about another guy ensconced on that box.

His name is Ken Meador and his company is $14 million/ 52 employee TWR Lighting Inc.

To start with, he agrees with a passionate belief I’ve pushed for more than two decades—having everyone in the company involved in interviewing candidates.

“It educates people about how to interview. Eventually, they are going to grow up and take over positions, and they need to go through this process for professional reasons. It also gives them a sense of ownership. They know that they are empowered and that their opinion means something.”

Yes!

Authority and responsibility go hand in hand.

“I’m a firm believer in explaining to people what my expectation is. How they do that and how they utilize their resources with other people to achieve that expectation, that’s part of learning and becoming more self-reliant. That’s part of empowering them. When I don’t tell them how to do that, I’m allowing them to work at their own pace and to really think outside the box on their own. That’s what creates really influential employees who learn from their mistakes and move on.”

Yes!

Secrets kill culture; everyone in the company should know the good, the bad and the ugly.

“How you create that culture comes down to beating a steady drum, creating openness and having candor. I’m not afraid to discuss problems with my employees any more than I’m glad to give them the good news.”

Yes!

I’ve preached this ’till I’m blue in the face and some still don’t get it.

“I manage a lot by walking around…That familiarity helps level the playing field…Anything that will help build camaraderie and an openness so that they know my door is always open for them and, even as president, they can come talk directly to me if they so desire.”

Yes!

Finally, a public declaration of both business and cultural mission with one line that really stands out.

“How we accomplish our mission is as important as the mission itself.”

Now the big question—does all this culture and empowering stuff pay off?

Seems like it—revenues increased $4.5 million between 2004 and 2006 among other things.

Want to hear more direct from the horses mouth? Ken shared some of his thoughts on TWR and business over at Leadership Turn today and agreed to share more of his MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) in the future here as his time permits, so stay tuned.

What does your corporate culture soapbox look like?

Before you start grabbing all that great advice and slapping it willy-nilly on your company you need to take stock.

Take a step back and honestly look at your company’s culture and at yourself. This step is critical because you can’t change something of which you aren’t aware or that you don’t understand.

Make no mistake, whatever company culture you find is directly a product of your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™)—whether you actively instigated it or enabled it through neglect.

To form an accurate picture of your culture you can’t just talk to your senior staff—you need a 360 degree vision of it, which means input from all levels of your company. If you’ve allowed yourself to become isolated, basing your decisions on what may be filtered information, you’ve found the first thing you need to change—and you need to accept that it’s not going to be easy.

First, look to yourself.

• Why and how did you allow it to happen?
• How long has it been going on?
• How valid or how filtered is the information you do get?
• Who is standing in your stead at the apex of the culture and what is that person’s MAP?

Next, how healthy is your culture? Indicators Abound.

• Do people feel comfortable sharing bad news or do they expect the messenger to be killed?
• How approachable are you—an open door policy that’s never used is a symptom, not a plus.
• Do the different departments work together or are they jockeying for position?
• In an ‘”us vs. them” world, do your people’s actions confirm their belief that ‘us’ are all their inside colleagues and your vendors and ‘them’ are the competition?

This may seem basic and time consuming, but in a world where it’s innovation and world-class customer service that’s can save your bacon in a downturn you need a strong handle on the basics—no matter how unpalatable they turn out to be.

Image credit: sota767