I’ve noticed that when people talk about the organizational culture it’s almost as if it’s a thing, a frame hung in the hallway and secured. Some examples are “Our office culture is co-operative or transparent or focuses on life-work balance or etc.” as if that means that’s what it is and what it will always be. But we all know or have heard the many stories of how great cultures crashed into becoming horrible workplaces, and likewise how weak cultures were transformed by a shift in management or an uproar by employees.
See, cultures are dynamic and constantly changing through actions and decisions. Basically, if culture isn’t being maintained like a house, it will fall apart and become uninhabitable. So when something happens that isn’t aligned with our organizational culture, we need to highlight that this action or decision doesn’t align and is likely to weaken our culture. It doesn’t guarantee people will listen but it can help reduce damage or shed some light to warn us that the culture is deteriorating. Letting things pass unhighlighted just ensures they’ll happen again.
The opposite is also true, when there’s a positive shift being met with resistance, we need to advocate for it. To be clear, I think the majority of this shouldn’t fall on employees as most of the time it’s driven and enforced by top management. However, small issues and actions are what can also snowball into these drastic changes, and for those, we need to step in, in whichever capacity we can.
Let me know in the comments your stories about protecting your organizational culture or not?
Till next time 🙂 !
Disclaimer: None of this information is to be used as advice, it’s just for entertainment purposes. Additionally, all information used is publicly available.
Weekend Coffee Chats 