Are you at odds with your company’s culture? Dan and Alison answer your questions with the help of Alicia Tillman, the CMO of SAP. They talk through what to do when your company celebrates one kind of worker and ignores others, everyone seems to fit in but you, or a hard-charging culture is hurting performance and employee morale.
From Alison and Dan’s reading list:
HBR: The Culture Factor by Boris Groysberg, Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price, and J. Yo-Jud Cheng — “Culture is the tacit social order of an organization: It shapes attitudes and behaviors in wide-ranging and durable ways. Cultural norms define what is encouraged, discouraged, accepted, or rejected within a group. When properly aligned with personal values, drives, and needs, culture can unleash tremendous amounts of energy toward a shared purpose and foster an organization’s capacity to thrive.”
HBR: Why Great Employees Leave “Great Cultures” by Melissa Daimler — “What is the criteria to become a manager, director, vice president? What are the expected behaviors that earn a person said title? What technical and leadership skills are needed? These are all expressions of culture and values, but too often they are perceived as random.”
HBR: Create a Growth Culture, Not a Performance-Obsessed One by Tony Schwartz — “Here’s the dilemma: In a competitive, complex, and volatile business environment, companies need more from their employees than ever. But the same forces rocking businesses are also overwhelming employees, driving up their fear, and compromising their capacity.”
HBR: Changing Company Culture Requires a Movement, Not a Mandate by Bryan Walker and Sarah A. Soule — “And remember that culture change only happens when people take action. So start there. While articulating a mission and changing company structures are important, it’s often a more successful approach to tackle those sorts of issues after you’ve been able to show people the change you want to see.”