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What Company Culture Is and Is Not

dannydenhard
October 22, 2020

What Company Culture Is and Is Not

There seems to be quite a lot of confusion about what company culture is and what company culture is not. This presentation helps to clear up what company culture actually is, what the important layers of the company culture are and why sub cultures, the environment, the chemistry and connections are so important. By the end of this what company culture deck you will be empowered to build the right long term plan to improve your business

dannydenhard

October 22, 2020
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  1. Culture aka Company Culture is known as… • Work culture

    • Company culture • Organisational culture • Organisational health
  2. Books, Podcasts, LinkedIn updates, YouTube videos all talk about culture

    and what it is not. They don’t clearly define what culture is.
  3. • Company culture is trust • Company culture is the

    work environment you co-create • It’s how people feel, yes feel • It’s the non-verbals, the cues and interactions • It’s how colleagues communicate, especially when not everyone is watching or listening, • It’s how colleagues work together, it is how colleagues show up and support each other • It’s the accepted behaviours • It’s how the data and information flows and how confidence builds Company Culture Is:
  4. Company culture can be the simple things like meeting behaviours;

    • Example of having too many meetings • Creating a meeting to make a decision • Or having meetings without agenda’s.
  5. • Company culture is not HR (or just owned by

    HR)* • Company culture is not a marketing tool or a PR stunt • Company culture is not leadership dictating what works and does not work • Company culture is not a series of perks like an office dog, free beers and a ping pong table or quarterly sessions talking about culture. Company Culture Is Not: * HR aren’t in a position to be trusted by most employees, the old hire and fire model is too engrained into colleagues & businesses of all sizes
  6. It’s not a blog post or an email, not one

    internal memo and not a reminder on chat tools that we should be doing better or doing more. These are just baby steps towards company culture. And yes a reminder, it is more than a mailing list or a dedicated chat channel to ask questions. For many colleagues company culture is the why am I doing this when elements of the business become unclear. ❌ ❌
  7. Perks have been a misconception for a number of years

    and masks what is happening and what makes a successful company.
  8. You could blame huge tech businesses for leveraging narratives &

    helping to confuse perks with culture. A good place to work is more than feeding your team, offering a pool table and offering barista services etc
  9. Did you and your business get confused? Did you join

    a co-working office to feel cooler?
  10. The communication, the cues, the connections, the guidance, the agreed

    principles, the company’s pulse, the heart beat of an organisation
  11. Company culture is more than a buzzword Company culture is

    more than a couple of old school pulse survey sent into oblivion Company culture is more than a last resort Company culture is how the company knows how the company performance is doing, how the company tackles obstacles together and continues to build better businesses
  12. Company culture is: • Developing your people • Improving understanding

    and objectives • Developing communication • Improving the environment • Improving collective expectations • And improving your companies performance
  13. This is Jess Jess loves connecting with people similar to

    her in the org. Jess is an introvert but wants to discuss her work on slack and email Jess isn’t always heard at work - even with her great ideas Jess is listened to in team meetings but not by her manager Jess speaks her mind and engages a lot when it comes to improving how the team can work more efficiently Jess is a good communicator and offers to work closely with management in improving internal comms Jess fondly remembers a previous manager who would make her feel heard Jess isn’t able to talk to her boss or bosses boss about making work better
  14. This is James James is one of the leadership team

    James is an extrovert, he is the sales leader James believes in SQL’s, MQL’s and what the CFO and CEO say James loves reminding people just to do their job James manages over shouty emails and doesn’t read slack James runs it his way or no way. He doesn’t believe in good or bad company culture as he cannot manage it in salesforce James is an awful line manager James is famous for not saying hello to his team in the mornings
  15. Me Team Department Company Org Manager Department Leader Business Leadership

    It’s How People Choice Their Part Am I here? Are they for me? Does it connect? Do they work together and closely? Do I support my team? Do I belong to my departments? Do we connect?
  16. Let’s be honest, almost all leadership and HR teams are

    too disconnected from the day to day, this means neither understand the pulse or heartbeat, nor are trusted internally enough to make the right steps forward when it comes to culture, this then impact strategy. Company culture does, however, need the HR team and leadership buy-in and has to have complete backing in-front of the departments and in the boardroom, and yes even the CFO signing off on ‘soft skills’.
  17. Yes company culture is hard, Yes it is long term

    and yes it’s about weeding out the work politics and setting up success across the business BUT Company culture is directly connected to company performance.
  18. Company culture needs nurturing and developing and is an ever-evolving

    and a growing part of your organisation. It’s not a one and done It’s not a recurring agenda item for the senior leadership team don’t have time to skip through And hear about from just one of their trusted people.
  19. Company Compass Culture Sub Culture Behaviours Chemistry Connections Workplace /

    Environment Ideals, values - BHAG, these are the guides and guiding principles. If these are hard or something people reject the rest can break very quickly, tech isn’t going to bring this back Culture - rolling up to compass, the below factors all rolls up into culture. This is the hardest thing to define and hardest to shape without clear & precise guidance. This is how certain departments or sub teams work together and integrate. These are the things new people need to use as a guide and integrate into What is acceptable, what is not across the organisation at any one points. Behaviours is how chemistry and connections are centralised and often acted out Chemistry is the hardest to interview for and understand before a team or teams work together. Chemistry is between people, teams and the way of operating, bad chemistry will kill teams Connections is how people find each other, work together and develop relationships. Connections bond chemistry & often sets long term behaviours. If connections breakdown then the rest can fall down The workplace (whether in an office or remote) is vitally important, the more time we spend in the office and together the more important your surroundings are. If you are unhappy in your workplace or in your specific environment you will not build good connections, build the right chemistry and behaviours will fail. Influencing factors
  20. Subcultures, team and departmental “tribal behaviours” are far more influential

    than any businesses realise or work on improving. Subcultures often go on undetected and unspoken of, leading to numerous issues
  21. Why Are Sub Cultures Are Important? You have subcultures within

    the same office, often within teams in departments. For individuals: Trust, behaviours & belonging all essential at the individual level. This is before we connect with our team, our department, our company. Work is: me and we (company), not one or the other.
  22. Yes, Management is vitally important to your company culture, your

    company likely is not set up to allow a company culture to develop or to succeed properly. Your company is not likely built out to support leaders and develop the next generation of leaders throughout your business. These are all signals of company culture and belonging to this tribe.
  23. The Environment Is Crucial. Working in the office, working from

    home, working remotely or the Hybrid model. Just because we are not within the same walls, it doesn’t mean anyone is less important, their situation is different and not to have a rule that applies to all. All important lessons and learnings should apply no matter what your set up is or has to be.
  24. Something That Will Shock Many: Culture is set by the

    employees daily, guidance and principles set by leadership. These factors help to set their company culture up. It’s the signals, actions, behaviours and the support that makes company culture win. This makes company performance. Not writing statements on the wall, not a commitment to something that was written months ago and never revisited. This is why culture cannot be decided upon from the leadership team or by one department.
  25. Why Has The Company Culture Broken? The truth is: Many

    leadership teams have got culture wrong as it was being directed by the wrong departments Or By leaders who were completely disconnected from the teams and departments. Culture became a buzzword and not an essential part of the business success
  26. No one is in a better position to help address

    company culture than the right internal people, However, Without the right framework and being able to step back, scan the landscape and gain insights - you will struggle to make any progress.
  27. Company culture goes hand in hand with strategy and it

    has to be treated as a constant priority.
  28. Are you ready to tackle company culture? Are you ready

    to prioritise and put company culture front and centre of your business? Company culture should now be clearer, for leaders, the next generation of leaders and people who just a better workplace and those who just want to do their job.
  29. 2020 has been challenging for everyone, 2021 has to be

    clear, concise and ensure your people and your business is set up for success. Take the Focus challenge! Improve company culture and build an ongoing alliance with strategy to ensure it is treated as a business-critical item.
  30. 55 +Thank You From Focus DANNY DENHARD The world of

    work has lost its focus! Focus was created to cut through the noise, cut through confusion and ensure businesses focus on developing their organisations and performance. FOUNDER E: [email protected] W: WWW.FOCUS.BUSINESS/MANIFESTO M: ANONYMOUS HELPLINE: +447480064060