{"id":7,"date":"2015-09-02T05:35:19","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T05:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/?p=7"},"modified":"2015-09-02T05:35:33","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T05:35:33","slug":"values-culture-and-morale-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/09\/02\/values-culture-and-morale-2\/","title":{"rendered":"VALUES, CULTURE AND MORALE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018I want a big, hairy customer service culture throughout the whole organization and I want it tomorrow\u2019, CEO to Executive GM, Sales & Marketing.<\/p>\n

A direction that\u2019s almost certain to fail, even to be counter-productive.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s counter-productive to set goals about culture and values, even when they\u2019re supported by a project plan with actions and responsibilities. You cannot project manage<\/em> a new culture.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t misunderstand, it\u2019s important to promulgate your vision and values. Just back them up with behaviours to match.<\/p>\n

Culture and values are influenced mostly through \u2018peripheral vision\u2019, through actions and behaviours seen throughout the organization, not by plans. In any organization, values constitute an area where there\u2019s always a background, low level of mistrust and suspicion. If a CEO says, \u2018I want to highlight the values of honesty\u2019 some of the staff will try to fall into line but many will ask, \u2018What\u2019s she up to; what\u2019s the agenda?\u2019 It\u2019s like saying, \u2018You can really trust me\u2019; the general reaction to such a statement is, \u2018What\u2019s she trying to put over me?\u2019<\/p>\n

You will get values in place by both talking about them but more importantly by demonstrating them consistently, frequently and repeatedly. The board, the CEO, the management team, supervisors, everyone whose actions are seen by staff. You\u2019ll get values in place through recognition. You will get values to grow by trusting people, by allowing for mistakes, by encouraging initiative, by being even-tempered and considerate. Talk with your senior team about their behaviour; are they displaying behaviours you are personally seeking to demonstrate.<\/p>\n

Get the values right and the culture and morale will follow.<\/p>\n

When you personally<\/em> demonstrate such a consistent set of values, you\u2019ll lead the organization into a good space.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a never-ending task, as one of the engines of your organization, it needs regular maintenance.<\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0\u00a0Values, culture and morale are strongly interrelated and fundamental to the long-term health and success of an organization. Values are guides to behaviour, culture is the broad sharing of outlook and support across the organization. Morale, an expression of the values and culture, is an intangible measure of the \u2018mood\u2019 of an organization which, while not able to be measured objectively, can be sensed and assessed through surveys and the like.<\/li>\n
  2. Of course, some organizations survive, even prosper, under a \u2018reign of terror\u2019 or even \u2018command-and control\u2019 culture. But the choice is there for all boards, CEOs and management teams and there\u2019s increasing evidence that the \u2018right\u2019 culture and values enable better bottom line performance.<\/li>\n
  3. Many organizations have a prominent statement of values and a target culture but don\u2019t live up to them. It\u2019s a great idea to put some thoughts out there about values and culture; the big step however is to evolve the values you desire, and nurture the culture you wish for.<\/li>\n
  4. Never forget, values and culture are easily undermined or destroyed. If you\u2019re up there in front of staff presenting an employee-of-the-month certificate, if last week you yelled abuse at someone they\u2019ll only remember that and not your honeyed words at the presentation. Move on any manager or supervisor who doesn\u2019t \u2018walk the talk\u2019 \u2013 after suitably guiding and encouraging them to change, of course.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u2018I want a big, hairy customer service culture throughout the whole organization and I want it tomorrow\u2019, CEO to Executive GM, Sales & Marketing. A direction that\u2019s almost certain to fail, even to be counter-productive. It\u2019s counter-productive to set goals about culture and values, even when they\u2019re supported by a project plan with actions and … Continue reading VALUES, CULTURE AND MORALE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mathiesonmgt.com.au\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}