Culture and the Modern Workplace
Culture: noun: the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.
We all want to be part of something great. We want our workplace culture to be worthy of its “Best Places to Work” status. But in many cases, the corporate “cultural persona” does not fully reflect the cultural reality.
Why? Firstly, leadership. Leaders tend to focus on the desired culture as opposed to the existing culture. It’s easier (and more uplifting) to identify the cultural characteristics you want, as opposed to sifting through the complexities of the culture you have. But when the aspirational culture fails to align with the existing culture, it results in an authenticity problem. However, you can’t fully blame leaders. Most companies lack the right incentives for leadership to invest in the hard work and difficult decisions necessary to bridge the gap between existing and aspirational culture. For example, achieving cultural alignment might necessitate terminating individuals who are financially productive but culturally cancerous. There could be entire groups within the company who behave in a manner that is inconsistent with the aspirational culture.
Establishing a culture that is intentional and truly reflective of specific corporate goals requires years of practice. It’s hard work. A good example is Goldman Sachs. David Solomon, Goldman’s CEO, has been outspoken about the need to have Goldman employees back in the office. He has very specific reasons for this, which tie directly to Goldman’s culture. If you listen to him speak on the subject, you will quickly realize that his views are not reactionary or based on this moment in time. He is speaking about the office in the context of how it fits into Goldman’s long established (and cherished) culture. For Goldman, having employees work remotely is antithetical to its culture. It’s an existential threat to how it develops its employees and creates the powerful networks vital to its success.
Contrast Goldman’s unflinching views on the office with the wishy washy uncertainty that is so pervasive today. The reason so many are unsure about how to define future workplace is because they are unsure about the underlying culture they seek to promote. When culture is known, the workplace strategy is less mysterious. This is because the workplace is not the defining element of corporate culture, it is a part of the whole. What happens when workplace strategy is disconnected from actual behavior? Culture suffers. A timely example would be the promotion of a virtual-first workplace when the actual workplace is biased toward in person participation because leadership is in office and (despite the messaging) regards those who work virtually as less committed.
In the end, corporate culture is determined by the intentional acts of leaders who consistently promote and support the foundational elements of a specific cultural objective; or, it is determined by the lack of such leadership, by the gap between what a company says and what it does. There is risk when companies thoughtlessly identify cultural initiatives without understanding how they fit the existing culture, without assessing the change necessary to integrate them into the existing culture. It’s become clear these past couple of years that many companies are not maximizing the benefits of the workplace, they’re not engaging the employee as fully as they otherwise could. The workplace is a cultural opportunity, but one that must be approached thoughtfully.