Leading cultures: retaining talent and maintaining an edge in a world of uncertainty
Why leaders who fully understand the power of the right organizational culture can unleash the potential of their teams and themselves.
We have come a long, long way since the early months of 2020. The personal and corporate challenges have arrived at a scale and speed the world has never seen.
Events have thrown up a new landscape for leaders to master, where change is continually turbocharged by technology transformation and social issues.
The ultimate culture test
One clear shift to confront with is the relationship between employees and their employers. An uncoupling both physical and emotional.
Naturally, more and more attention is being focused on why and how culture makes one organization more attractive than another.
So, why is your workforce less likely to be a victim of the so-called ‘great resignation’? Whilst resignations haven’t been ‘great’ in some industries and at all levels, the phenomenon has asked serious questions about how to approach culture, not just in a superficial way, but as a genuine competitive lever that will have an enduring effect in building organizations fit for today and tomorrow.
Talent-attracting cultures will have a vital edge in a tightening market.
“Companies that succeed will be those who embrace the opportunities to rethink old ways of hiring, employee engagement and how business is done” states Dagmar-Elena Markworth, Partner at Odgers Berndtson Germany.
Culture, strategy and change
James Heskett, UPS Foundation Professor Emeritus at the Harvard Business School, examined leading companies around the world and found that organizational culture makes employees more loyal, more productive, and more creative.
It does so for several fundamental reasons, as he explains in his book, Win from Within: Build Organizational Culture for Competitive Advantage.
In a recent McKinsey and Company Author Talks article he explains why organizational culture matters to executed a corporate strategy. ‘’It is not a case of culture and strategy being in some kind of competition, but that an effective culture has to support an organization’s strategy.”
As he continues, “I would argue it has to support more than one of an organization’s strategies, but it has to support strategy. At the same time, its culture may be an important part of an organization’s strategy.”
Importantly, an effective culture makes change easier. To have an agile strategy, you’ve got to have a culture that will support that phenomenon.
And as he points out, if to a large extent leadership is about the management of change, then having an effective culture actually makes leadership easier. And managers are going to need all the help they can get if their lack of preparation for coping with disruption remains as poor as we found in our 2020 Global Leadership Confidence Index.
Hybrid success? Or failure?
The other major phenomenon James Heskett addresses is all too clear as we move into a post-lockdown world: the nature of work and the implication that it has for an organization’s culture. Here, the number one pressing issue is the hybrid organization - what kind of culture is needed to make that a success?
Hybrid organizations can be successful. But not by accident.
Building a culture that will succeed when people are not in day-to-day physical proximity will need to be a quite deliberate action to successfully address the hybrid reality.
For example, people working remotely need to have a voice and feel that they are included, and that their ideas are being considered.
As Forbes points out, “Team members want more input on how they spend their time and for leadership to trust they will do so responsibly. The answer lies less in the debate of whether or not to return to the office, but instead in connecting to team members to understand their needs and the requirements of their roles to co-create the new work environment. Rather than issuing edicts, now is the time to foster inclusion and collaboration to devise a plan that factors in the needs of both the people and the organization.”
Ewald Manz, Partner at Odgers Berndtson Germany, adds: “That kind of collaborative culture will scare the old-fashioned ‘command and control’ type of leaders used to having the only voice in the room. But they will find themselves increasingly unsuccessful in motivating and retaining employees who are looking for a new model of engagement.”
What about the people at the top?
Of course, senior leaders need support too, as they navigate the changes, and, in some cases, culture shocks.
We should never forget that leaders have been disconnected from their organizations too. Many have taken time to reflect on their lives, their priorities and their futures.
They have been asked to be more empathetic, just one of the greater demands being asked. All too often without the support of a systematic approach to leadership development.
Businesses need to rethink how they support and develop their leaders, addressing their loneliness in many cases.
A culture that doesn’t have a board-level focus on how the people who are running the company are faring is making an enormous mistake. No-one wants a great C-suite resignation if it can be avoided.
If you would like to discuss your talent and leadership issues, including support and personalized development for senior leaders and C-suite teams, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.