No matter the size of your team or business, team performance is key. We continue to see list after list outlining what is required of businesses to maximise their performance, to the point where the topic has almost become clinical. Ultimately, if your people feel valued at work and feel a sense of purpose when carrying out their role, then you probably have a good place to work, and you can e expect for greater performance to follow.
Value statements, workplace behaviour statements, team charters aren't enough to prevent a toxic work environment. There is a greater force that either makes or breaks a healthy organisation, and it's your leaders. If leaders feel that they cannot make decisions (even when there are recorded delegations), consequently team members will feel they can't speak up. It is this all-too-common cycle that breaks the potential for a healthy organisation.
Everything your leaders do (and don't do) have a direct impact on your organisational culture. Research tells us that up to 50% of any person's experience of work can be attributed to their leaders.
The issue is that leaders today have become inundated with advice on what they 'must do' to achieve greater performance. In the words of one leader, “if I did everything I needed to do, I would be able to walk on water”. In other words, it is impossible to meet all the demands, and coupled with this is often a lack of clarity about what ‘living the values’ really means on the ground.
As one recent Q5 Health sector client said “I know when I talk about culture and wellbeing, half the group don’t know what I am talking about. I can see that they just don’t get it”. Many organisations can relate to these statements, and it is clear that the whole topic needs to be grounded in a tangible way.
So, if leaders are key, and the culture they create feels a bit detached from rhetoric, then what do organisations do?
Make it simple and clear for all. Use a grounded phrase or term, rather than a general word such as culture. The word culture has so many different meanings for different people, that when used in isolation, can be perceived as ‘loose and intangible’.
An emergency services organisation used the term “healthy workplaces” to anchor its decisions and focus for leaders and teams. We are finding that many clients are opting for the term ‘good days at work’. It is simple and clear. When making decisions about the many things that a leader has to do each day, such as rostering, training allocations, budgeting, feedback, debriefs, flexible working arrangements etc, reflecting on whether there is a way to do it, to make a good or better day at work, allows it to be understood in pragmatic way. Making the experience of work a little bit better all the time adds up to a healthy organisational culture.
Essential areas to focus for individuals and organisations to thrive
At Q5 we take an approach that uses both art and science to make healthy organisational cultures. The art tells us the style and tone to use to magnify a health organisational culture. The science tells us where to put greatest energy. Professor Cary Cooper, with over 40 years of research shows us that there are six essential areas to focus for individuals and organisations to thrive:
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* Sense of purpose
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* Positive work relationships
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* Sense of control and autonomy – to influence and get on with the job
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* Communication and resources – to do the job well
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* Job security – along with well managed change
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* Motivating workload – enough to stretch but not overwhelm
In our work at Q5, we have added a seventh - clarity and competence. This refers to when each person feels they are clear in what they need to do and have the necessary capability (skills and knowledge) to get on with the job.
Additionally, we found that it is crucial to start at the highest level of alignment. Dealing with culture as a discrete separate part of an organisation will limit your gains. Step back and reflect on the following before unleashing a ‘good days at work’ approach:
Be clear on the links between ‘good day at work’ and where the organisation is heading. Having a strategy and vision is key.
Make sure hard structures are set up well to support the strategy. A clear, simple, and effective operating model is a must have. It is almost impossible to have a thriving culture (consistently good days at work) when there are structural impediments repeatedly straining the system.
Review policies and practices to see what is getting in the way of ‘good days at work’. There are likely legacy policies from a time when the relationship with an employee was seen to be transactional rather than human. A simple test will be ‘does this policy or practice get in the way of a leader or team member making good decisions and having good behaviours to create a good day at work’.
Help leaders of all levels to truly get an ‘ah ha’ about the impact they have not only on their immediate team but on their whole leadership space. How a leader walks down a corridor and engages with each person on that walk says more about culture than any poster. Hand on heart, most executives think they get it, but they really don’t. We hear many stories, incidentally about executives ignoring ideas for improvement and stifling those with alternative views, when the executives themselves see themselves as a positive champion of change.
A healthy organisational culture is about people feeling good at work and doing work that is worthwhile. Leaders have a key role in fostering this experience of work, but we also need to keep it connected with the larger strategy and structures within the organisation.
Lyndal leads Q5 in Australia, an organisation transformation consultancy that builds organisational health for the working world. With over 25 years’ experience in implementing effective transformation and leadership strategies for blue-chip companies and government departments in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. As a former London-based Accenture Executive, Lyndal offers rigour and insight to all the projects she works on. She has been the Head of Culture and Change for Woolworths Food Group and founder of the highly regarded change consultancy Treacle. This consultancy was rolled into Q5 in 2021, bringing with it deep expertise in working with leaders to shape and implement integrated change programs which align with strategy. Lyndal delivers measurable differences in workplace behaviours, well-being, organisational culture, and leadership impact.
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