Who’s responsible for a great culture?

If you read my last post, you should have a clearer understanding of why it is important to your company success to pay attention to your workplace culture.

Culture is a fluid. Shaped by the people and for the people, culture, if it’s driven from the top, will support the growth and success of the organisation both short and long term.

But who is responsible for making or retaining a great culture?

The answer is – everyone.

While it’s critical that you and your management team are visible in shaping and upholding the culture and standards you expect from your people, you can’t enforce it. People influence the culture either positively or negatively.

I know there has been a lot of talk in the news around the responsibility of the CEO and executive team in shaping culture. Recently, our banks have all faced criticism over their greedy culture and the blame has been placed at the feet of the CEOs and Boards of Management. Although the CEO and Board may not have directly created the culture, they allowed it to continue to exist.

I believe everyone has a role and responsibility to shape culture. The average bank employees can decide for themselves whether they want to buy into the greed culture. It’s a decision only they can make.

The issue with a poor workplace culture is that the people who dislike the culture will probably quit, leaving behind the weak who will take what they can because “that’s what everyone does around here.”

Your culture is shaped from the top by the decisions you make and the processes or policies you allow.

It’s your role to make sure the culture is one which supports your vision and values and will lead you and your team to successful outcomes. That means finding, hiring and keeping the right people, listening to feedback coming from the ground up, and changing systems which no longer serve you or the organisation.

The culture is embedded when your people believe in it and choose to follow.

Who shapes a great company culture?

Everyone.