Culture behind the curtain

Organizational Culture is a buzz phrase. The word ‘culture’ invokes thoughts of team outings, ping-pong tables, and group photos of employees in matching tee shirts holding up peace signs with their fingers <insert a wink here!>. We are made to believe that culture is like a magic spell that is cast over employees when they join a company.

The truth is that culture is made or broken by leadership. Business owners and leaders often put the burden of culture creation on HR, but in reality, employees look to mimic the behaviors they see from leadership to deem what is or is not acceptable behavior.

I’ve worked in many organizations but one in particular outshines the rest as a stunning example of culture failure. We’ll call this company X.  When I joined company X, the culture was collaborative, transparent, and entrepreneurial. Employees were happy at work and looked forward to contributing daily.  After a few months, the culture shifted. A few new employees were rumor mongering. Instead of correcting the behavior and putting an end to the rumors, the owners joined in and added a few rumors of their own. They became part of an employee clique and the workplace quickly became a version of West Side Story; Sharks v. Jets.

One day the owners came to HR asking for a culture intervention stating that HR wasn’t doing it’s best to impart a positive culture.  The process started but was quickly halted due to lack of participation of the owners. They felt that culture had nothing to do with them and everything to do with HR.  Needless to say, turnover ensued.

The truth is company culture will be based on the worst behavior that is tolerated from leadership. HR is there to inspire, develop, and guide - it’s not the wizard behind the curtain.