Create Culture To Deliver Results

There are two facets to a company accomplishing its business goals: the business strategy, and the organisational culture that supports it.

Culture is, in simple terms, that collection of beliefs which hold sway over behaviour. Employees' behaviour must be in concert with the performance necessary to yield the anticipated business results. It's as simple as that!

"Values" exercises and "strategic retreats" to conceive statements of vision and mission are of no value unless they demonstrably influence and shape the decisions day after day, taken by management at all levels throughout the organisation. A leader's worth is never established by running a retreat, or facilitating a strategy session, creating a report, or establishing a "sense of teamwork". A leader's value is in the result, which should be beliefs and principles that guide organisational behaviour each and every day.

Setting successful strategy is vital to achieving, not just good, but great corporate results. Whilst we limit our thinking to only delivering what our clients want - the commodity cage - we are failing to discover what they need, which shifts the value proposition to the deep and fertile seas for both them and us.

Here are three of Ric's strategy salvos

Values should be seen and not just heard

The General Manager of a million dollar subsidiary of a multi-national company, explained to me that he didn't approve of the vicious behaviour of one of his Sales Managers, Geoffrey, infamous for offensively cudgelling sales representatives in open meetings.

"But you do approve" I replied, "because your failure to do anything about it shows other's that Geoffrey's behaviour is the way to succeed here. Not only that, but you are developing mini-Geoffrey's, and losing quality people who don't feel comfortable in this culture." Geoffrey was terminated from the company within a month, but the clones took over a year to be converted or exited.

Those companies that have great employees, have them for the reason that senior people constantly reinforce those behaviours that are responsible for success and promotion.
Values should be memorable

Values and vision must be concise enough to be used as daily templates for decision making and planning. All businesses make or lose money each day as the result of decisions made by employees.

You want your employees to have it in their minds every day on the job, or else they won't be using them to guide decisions and take actions to support the firm.
The buck stops at the top

Salespeople, warehouse staff, and customer service operators are held accountable for the amount of their sales, the speed and accuracy of deliveries and their satisfaction of the consumer. As we climb the hierarchical stairs, measures should become more difficult, not easier.

Business leaders must be made responsible for the company's future, quality and results. The helmsman may technically steer the ship, but the captain sets the destination. Navigators simply recommend the best course. The captain is responsible to the ship's owners and to those who sail in it.

How well does your company's leadership measure up?

Does the leader provide visible reward and recognition to people who fail while trying to live the values and vision of the organisation?
Can all employees clearly state in their own words the uniform values that influence their behaviour every day?
Do requests and complaints to the company get handled and solved by the first person contacted, and are not persistently transferred up the line to staff at higher levels?

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Ric Willmot, known as ‘The Consultant's Consultant’, is the CEO of Executive Wisdom Consulting Group www.executivewisdom.com; and the Founder of the Society for Executive Wisdom www.executivewisdomsociety.com. Subscribers of CEO Online receive 10% discount on all seminars and workshops by Executive Wisdom Consulting Group.
First published: 27 September 2007.
Last updated: 27 September 2007.