Hey Skildare, I think
we have a culture problem!
Client D approached Skildare after identifying that there was a noticeable lack of accountability among their employees. This extended to both work output as well as behaviours. Further, it was noted that there was confusion about role clarity and responsibilities across teams. Skildare undertook the following course of action:
Workshop with leadership team to identify the core issues
Clearly define and communicate workplace values
Leadership development in providing feedback and managing performance
"Corporate culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage that is completely within the control of the entrepreneur. Develop a strong corporate culture first and foremost."
David Cummings
What happened?
The first step was to work with the leadership team to clearly understand their concerns. Broadly the concerns identified were:
· Employees not completing tasks within the required timeframes
· Internal processes were inefficient, especially when a task required input by multiple people within the team
· Behaviours within the team, albeit not serious, were falling just below expectations
· A general lack of responsibility by employees to ensure tasks were completed on time and to quality standards
Multiple strategies were implemented to support Client D to improve workplace practices.
The first included implementing clear Position Descriptions. Skildare consulted with key stakeholders to gain an understanding of workflows and role responsibilities and developed Position Descriptions for each role. This process also highlighted the need to improve clarity regarding reporting lines and delegation authority, so a well-illustrated organisational structure was implemented to improve communication and workflow.
The second step was to develop meaningful workplace values. Consultation workshops were conducted with employees to allow input into what values were important and what they meant in practice in the workplace.
Once the values were finalised, further workshops were facilitated to further promote the expected behaviours aligned to the agreed-to values.
Finally, a series of leadership workshops were undertaken:
· Providing the leadership team with tools to ensure they were providing regular feedback to employees to keep them accountable
· Establishing the importance of a continuous improvement workplace
· An understanding of when and how to undertake a disciplinary process, and the benefits to the business in following this process.
A review of these initiatives was undertaken 12 months after implementation and the following was noted:
· Reduced employee turnover
· Improvement in leadership capability to provide employee feedback
· Regular feedback reduced the number of performance issues escalating
· Morale and engagement improved as personnel were more aligned, and held accountable, to the workplace values
