Organizational Culture Matters a Great Deal – How Is Ours, Really?

Organizational culture has a huge impact on a company’s ability to achieve outstanding, sustainable financial results.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had several insightful conversations while asking for input on an organizational culture survey I’m developing. I hope the survey will be a valuable tool for senior executives, as well as human resources and organizational development professionals, to gain a sense of how they may improve teamwork and develop more energized, aligned, and loyal cultures.

Cari Sisserson, a superb organizational development (OD) professional, whom I have mentioned before, was happy to learn that the Common Sense Leadership survey being developed is not only focused on numbers and statistics, which she says many surveys are. Too many companies are run by statistics. Rather, Cari points out that we need to target our surveys to better learn about attitudes, feelings, enthusiasm, energy levels, and a sense of happiness.  So true!

Lisa Loehr, a highly successful human resource professional, wisely wants me to be aware that happiness can be affected by stress or problems outside of work.  Lisa also points out that identifying feelings could be opening up touchy subjects, such as 1 or 2 percent salary increases, budgets, and cutbacks on training.  Lisa is certainly correct about the sensitivity. 

The January/February issue of the Harvard Business Review is devoted to research proving that well-being matters and that happy employees do better work. Professor Christine Porath of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown co-authored a lead article in the issue, which is based on her extensive research about the effects of happiness in the workplace.  In fact, it is the subject of her next book.

I had a similarly insightful conversation with Matt Wey, a top-notch leader at Marsh & McLennan.  Matt discussed the challenges of tight budgets, when only small raises are available to reward people for their outstanding work and dedication.  It is definitely a common problem today and takes caring leadership to do the best we can to manage it.  People need to feel appreciated, that they are heard and their ideas matter, that they are important to their team, and that they are succeeding.

I also spoke with Melissa Fennell, another brilliant OD consultant, who believes the survey could be a very useful resource for companies to help gauge their culture.  That is exactly what I am hoping to accomplish, a tool companies may use to gain a sense of the energy, enthusiasm, and feelings of their people.  Melissa likes questions such as, “Do I feel I am learning and growing in my work?” and “Does my boss show appreciation for my work and dedication?”  I could not agree more with Melissa’s suggestion that this type of information is indicative of the attitudes and behaviors that matter greatly to our people.

In addition, I had the good fortunate to have a wonderful conversation with Lyn Jenks, the new CEO of the Charlevoix (MI) Area Hospital.  Lyn’s background is leadership consulting in health care and not-for-profit fields.  She spoke about the importance of culture and she knows that her people must feel appreciated and heard, that their energy and enthusiasm is the heart of the culture. Lyn walks around, has conversations, asks questions, and lets people know how much they matter. 

There certainly is no simple answer, no right way to handle issues such as salary freezes, minimum increases, and cutbacks on training.  What does help is a caring attitude—caring about our people and helping them succeed.  We can only do our best, and that will surely help.

Organizational culture is very important and should be an important focus, a top priority. Let’s try to get a sense of how our people are feeling and their enthusiasm and energy.  This will greatly help us as leaders.