Five Degrees of Workplace Culture

Guest post from S. Chris Edmonds:

I recently spoke to leaders in two different organizations about the
difficult dynamics in their work environment. Both organizations are
experiencing “senior leaders behaving badly.”

These dynamics cause stress, frustration, and heartache. Worse, the bad
behavior by these leaders has been tolerated by the top leaders of their
organizations – so it continues, unabated.

Crafting an organizational constitution then aligning practices to that
constitution takes time, energy, and attention on the part of leaders, every
day. Leaders must demonstrate their values and behaviors in every interaction –
and coach everyone else in their organization to do the same.

Leaders have never been asked to manage their team’s culture. They don’t
know how. Yet the benefits of aligning practices to an organizational
constitution are impressive:
40 percent gains in employee engagement, 40 percent gains in customer service,
and 35 percent gains in results and profits, all within 18 months of applying
this framework.

• Dysfunction
  – This is the lowest quality level, indicating a culture of low trust,
  inconsistent performance, and consistent frustration when trying to
  get things done.
• Tension –
  This level indicates that trust is slightly better but below standard.
  Performance is slightly better but remains inconsistent. Disagreements
  occur regularly, but overt conflict is not as common.
• Civility
  – This is the middle ground and represents the minimum standard of culture
  quality. At this level, leaders and team members are treated with
  respect. Interactions are formal and professional. Performance
  is consistently good. Disagreements about ideas are conducted calmly
  without denigrating the leader or team member’s commitment, skills,
  or role.
• Acknowledgement
  – This quality level is reflected in the active recognition and expression
  of thanks and gratitude for effort, accomplishment, service, and
  citizenship. Team members do not wait for acknowledgement from
  leaders – they proactively thank each other. Customers are treated
  respectfully. The phrase “thank you” is heard a lot.
• Validation
  – This quality level demands the active valuing of team members’ skills,
  ideas, enthusiasm, and talents. Leaders frequently delegate authority
  and responsibility to talented, engaged team members. Productivity is
  consistently high. Cooperative problem solving and team work is the norm.

The research proves
that teams that implement and align to an organizational constitution enjoy a
validating culture. That quality level is reflected in consistent team
member engagement, customers being WOW’ed daily, and exceeding performance
expectations over time.