Shawnee Love   •  
March 2, 2014

Company culture is important.  I often hear, “We spend at least 1/3 of our year at work. It ought to be a good place to be.”

Most organizations and managers try to make their culture the best they can.  We at LoveHR wholeheartedly support (and often design) those efforts.  However, when it comes to culture, one size does not fit all, so it isn’t enough to make your culture a good one, you must also:

• Work really hard to hire people who fit your culture, and
• Ensure that your culture enables your organization to achieve its goals.

Interestingly, even if your culture isn’t a good one by some peoples’ standards, it might be good for others and be exactly the culture you need to be successful.

So, when people leave telling you it is because of your culture, it isn’t enough to ask them what the problems are.  While it is good to know their opinions, you also need to ask all the people who stay about why they stay. Maybe they hate the culture too and just haven’t found a new job.  On the other hand, maybe they like your particular brand of culture and are the kind of people you need to drive the business forward.

I am afraid I am not going to be able to tell you how to change your culture in this blog.  Reams of materials have been written on the subject, and it is clearly not something solved in 500 words or less.  However, after leading and participating in culture changes many times, what I know for sure is:

1. The specifics of cultural change are different in every situation. Your culture change plan must be custom built.  Again, one size doesn’t fit all.
2. Culture changes via evolution and only rarely through revolution.  That means we must be committed for the long haul.  And we must measure improvements over multiple years, not months.
3. Culture (including organizational culture) stems from our deepest selves.  People are icebergs.  There is a lot going on under the surface which may not be evident from above.  That means that a well designed cultural change initiative might not show any obvious changes for a long time, even though attitudes may be broadening and values may be morphing underneath.  Practice patience and stay the course.
4. While lasting cultural change requires surface changes to occur, i.e., policies, systems, structure, rewards, etc., your culture will only change in a meaningful way if you apply pressure against the underlying values and beliefs that got you there.  In a company setting, that pressure to change can come from outside (like the introduction of a new law and serious consequences for failing to comply) or inside (e.g., from a compelling purpose and influential change leaders).

All of this being said, if you want to speed up your cultural evolution, hire employees who:

• Fit the culture you want to have and
• Have the resilience to help you get there.

This blog is the final in a five part series on why people quit and what to do about it.  If you have any thoughts you want to share, please comment.