What about the culture?


Friday, March 09, 2007


Face the fact: Culture is the reason people work (or choose not to work) in various environments. Think about it. The most common responses when asked why a person quit, or continues to work somewhere are culture-related.

Examples:

Q: Why did you quit?
A: I hated my boss. We spent all of our time meeting and none of our time achieving anything. The whole atmosphere was depressed.

Q: Why do you work here?
A: I like the people. We work well together, and are able to really help our clients. Plus, the leadership here helps us achieve our goals, and provides incentives to do so.

TRANSLATION: FOR BETTER OR WORSE, THE CULTURE IS THE DIFFERENCE.

In today's wacky world, people have choices about their careers and where they want to spend the majority of their waking hours. And, I know that the generation X's and Y's are certainly different than my baby boom generation when it comes to choosing a place to work. The good old days of hiring employees for a long period of time are over. People, especially younger generations, expect to have different experiences during their career, and change is usually good.

I also know that how an organization runs is not just dependent on the old business practices which focus on processes, job descriptions, strategies, technology and the like. Organizations that run well, that I see firsthand all the time, seem to have two things in common; one is a sense of purpose and the second is a distinct culture. Many books and articles have been written on this subject, so I don't pretend to bring something new to light, perhaps just a different spin on it, or a testament to its validity.

The sense of purpose is rather obvious; if something exciting is going on, something new, it's rather easy to spot. If it's your typical organization working on objectives, then it better have clarity and significance to all involved. And, that focus better be repeated often with feedback to all about their contributions to reaching goals.

The culture part is far less obvious and is either just there by "accident" because the leaders do it "their way", or there because of design. And, the better cultures are usually part of the design by the leaders of the organization. The leaders must establish and reinforce the culture based on values and apply the model consistently to obtain the culture they feel works best for their type of organization. And, it is proven, the better the quality of the culture, the better the results of the organization, especially when it comes to satisfying clients.

MBI has its culture, which is still evolving, but is soundly ground by sets of values (see http://www.gombi.com/ for more information) that, combined with performance, determine the "worth" of the individual to the culture. In other words, we constantly ask ourselves the question - "do we have the right people on the bus"? This is particularly important in hiring the younger generations, so they see and feel the organization and understand what they are getting into, and what is expected. It is more important in the MBI organization than any particular skill....be it sales, design or project management, it doesn't matter. If the values aren't there, there simply is no fit.

Part of making a culture work, helping people communicate, making the work life fun, and attracting/retaining good people is the environment they work in. People walk in to a company, whether they are customers, employees, shareholders or potential new employees and immediately form an impression. They can see and feel the culture just by the way people behave and by how the workspace looks! Does the workspace help or hinder interaction? Does the workspace help or hinder technology applications? Is the workspace full of drab cubicles or alive with alternative spaces? Is there privacy? What about noise and light? All these factors are picked up by our senses in a nanosecond and impact each and every person who experiences our space.

So, if you're building a culture and not considering the workspace, think again. Just like your home interior reflects who you are, your workspace reflects what your organization is all about... its culture.

At MBI our vision is to "Help people work better". Our design processes take culture into account and, in order to help organizations work better, we make the workspaces fit the culture the leaders are trying to create. It is part and parcel of the heartbeat of the organization. If the environment is left out of the equation, then that in itself is a decision. A decision that says "we may hire great people, but we don't care about the quality of their space". Not a good decision for organizations who want to compete for the best and brightest. Consider this important factor next time you're in your strategic planning session - is your workplace a strength or a weakness?


posted by Scott Messmore @ Friday, March 09, 2007   0 comments

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