Is your culture cracking?

Fatigue failure is an engineer’s nightmare. The tiniest of cracks, often invisible to the human eye, silently expanding resulting in catastrophic failure of a structure, a ship or plane. The design, calculations, load-analysis rigorously tested are theoretically sound, but there’s no accounting for the unseen crack, damaging the structure beneath the surface.

The forces impacting organisational culture are not dissimilar. At a time when organisations and their leaders navigate ways of working in hybrid environments, seek to build purposeful and connected teams, and enable individuals and organisations to thrive, are there cultural cracks slowly expanding in your organisation which could result in catastrophic failure?

Find cracks early and you can do something about it

It starts with knowing what to watch out for. Through working as a business psychologist and consulting with hundreds of organisations, I have identified 10 culture cracks I see most frequently occurring in organisations. These relate to the ‘dark side’ of the Make it Human Model. The actions, decisions, behaviours, undermining the good things driving your culture forward.  

Workplace: Creating the conditions for people to thrive.

This is all about the tools, environment and standards that enable individuals to thrive. Signs there are issues simmering here, include….

Culture Crack 1: Sooo Busy! When time spent working equals success

Over-hearing casual conversations between employees can provide an illuminating window into employees’ perception of what is valued within an organisation. If there’s a focus on measures of ‘busy-ness’ - volume of meetings, hours spent working, and little about the quality, impact or meaning of the work itself, there could be some issues bubbling. At its worse, this culture can lead to employees burning out as they feel pressure to work long-hours and be seen to be contributing. Our technology-enabled, always-on lifestyles mean there is greater need to monitor and nudge this aspect in the right direction to maintain a healthy approach and balance and to avoid feeling a sense of surveillance.

Roles, responsibilities & ripcords: Understanding expectations and how to contribute.

Establishing shared understanding of how to successfully contribute requires ongoing conversation and feedback. Typically, this goes wrong when…

Culture Crack 2: Double Standards – "Those rules don’t apply to me"

When significant ways of working, rules, and expectations are passionately shared by leaders proclaiming this is the best way forward for us all, only to be disregarded by the leader themselves. This could be seemingly small things, such as commitment to days working in the office, use of car parking spaces, safety procedures, or recruitment policies. These discrepancies mount up and can evoke anger and frustration in people who have followed the rules and made considerable sacrifices along the way. It also places huge pressure on future rules or expectations set, as people question the authenticity of leadership decisions.  

Culture Crack 3: Frozen Core – Managers frozen by bureaucracy

How many sign-off points are there for key decisions within your organization? How long does it take for managers and employees to have actions agreed and implemented? So often we tie ourselves in knots through lengthy approval or delegation of authority processes. A level of review and sign-off is likely necessary – people miss things – but too much red tape and you risk people feeling de-valued. At its worst, this can lead to diffusion of responsibility, boredom, pent up frustration, reduced engagement, and a culture of blame which can ultimately paralyse your organisation.

Community belonging: We’re in this together & equally valued.

Being listened to, feeling able to voice ideas or concerns, and having a fair shot at success cuts to the core of our need to belong and feel valued. Warning signs this is off kilter, include…

Culture Crack 4: Silence – Can be deafening and damaging

We’ve all been there – you’re hosting a meeting and get to the ‘any questions’ moment. Silence…. Sometimes this is golden, but if it becomes a regular feature, it could symbolise broader issues. Have you asked why people are choosing not to engage? The absence of dialogue could mask a few things – perhaps a lack of understanding (see Parent-Child); maybe the group dynamics are preventing open discussion; or possibly the group lack a sense of psychological safety. They fear the response that will follow if they ask a question or express a view, or they have shared feedback before and haven’t seen this acted upon. This is a real problem for organisations, especially today, as we undergo constant evolution. Getting people comfortable with asking questions, building a culture of feedback and radical transparency could be the key step towards successful continuous organisational transformation. 

Culture Crack 5: Culture Clouds – Compromising on behaviour for business outcomes

Every organisation has a few, too many can have a detrimental ripple effect. A culture cloud can gather at any level or function in an organisation. Put simply, it is an individual or group who through their behaviours undermine the hard work invested by others into building the desired culture. Often a ‘star’ performer (see ‘dark triad’) who makes their own rules, and owing to their solid results, the dubious way they’ve achieved this is overlooked. Or a manager, particularly effective at managing their reputation with senior colleagues, deflecting from their own team’s declining engagement scores. Unchecked, a culture cloud can lead to excessive turnover – valued employees leaving because they feel unfairly treated, ethically compromised or simply that they can’t shine in the organisation. Don’t let a culture cloud cast shadow on others in your company.

Empowerment: Trusted to do the right thing.

How work ‘flows’ around an organisation is so important. When individuals feel empowered to engage in challenging and interesting work, amazing things happen! But this can be hampered by…

Culture Crack 6: Parent-Child – “We know what’s best for you”

Are you holding back from sharing key information with employees because it’s too complex? Or maybe you tend to sugar-coat difficult messages? Leaders can often shy away from sharing financial or strategic information because they assume their teams won’t be interested or will fail to understand. This detracts from transparency and true alignment around shared objectives across an organisation which can foster a parent-child culture ultimately holding back innovation, collaboration, and engagement.

Culture Crack 7: Hero Complex – The caped crusaders taking credit for saving the world!

Every organisation has star performers. They can be virtues if they’re managed in a healthy way. However, if this is misplaced, i.e. the individual has great style over any substance, this can start to feed egos and turn into credit-grabbing, hero complex behaviour. Leaders play a key role in helping manage these individuals and situations. Over-reliance on a small group of ‘stars’ can create resentment in others, unchecked credit-grabbing behaviour simmers and prevents others from stepping forward, and can result in single-points of failure.

Growth: Supported and inspired to develop and grow.

An environment where people feel inspired and supported to continuously learn and develop their careers in exciting ways is the secret sauce. Make sure these cracks don’t dilute it…

Culture Crack 8: Corporate Clones – Nepotism fills critical roles

The familiar phrase ‘you’re going to love her!’ a leader announcing the arrival of an ex-colleague into their new firm. This might be the hire of the century, but have they bypassed the standard objective hiring processes because they’re a ‘known entity’? Or is this a Leader bringing their past with them to build what they once knew, rather than what’s needed? If people feel new hires have come in via the backdoor, or customers and shareholders start to comment on the lack of representation in meetings and events, perhaps there is a latent issue to address.

Culture Crack 9: History Lessons – It’s just how things are done around here

A new employee joins full of ideas and optimism for the path ahead. Several weeks in, having been met with ‘we tried that before and it didn’t work here’ from multiple places, they retreat and begin reconsidering whether this was the right move after all. The voice of the customer or anything ‘external’ appears to hit a brick wall. An organisation shaped by legacy and with a clear identity can be powerful when this opens doors and fuels progress. But if it hampers and holds things back, it could be a sign of a simmering issue.

Culture Crack 10: Profit over Purpose – Company success means nothing to me

How do you measure success and communicate progress within your organisation? If it’s mainly financial performance, then you risk de-motivating and alienating employees. Executives and shareholders find financial growth metrics very motivating, since personally, they are likely to directly benefit from these results. However, for most, this doesn’t hold the same reward. Much has been said about the need for galvanising missions and purpose statements. It can mean different things to different people but must align and propel action in a meaningful and sustainable way.

Manage culture as an asset

Don’t let culture be something that simply happens. In today’s world of work, culture needs to be proactively managed as an asset; it can play a huge role in either accelerating or diminishing company value. Take steps to build and maintain a healthy culture, in your teams and organisation.

Take the culture cracks quiz and identify the priorities for building a healthy culture in your team or organisation today: https://ivlv.me/x4mbi