Resources

 Recipe for a winning culture

Essential Ingredients:

1. Simple Inspiring Purpose which engages people's hearts …gives them faith in what they do and bonds them as a team.

2. Clear, simple set of values which defines the principles which bind the group together and identifies how they expect one other to behave.

3. Leadership whose commitment shows in their energy, words and actions….they walk the talk, demonstrating the values from the top-down

4. A climate where truth is encouraged to be spoken, (and heard) for the greater good, i.e. for a win-win outcome.  This helps keep everyone on-track and acknowledges those living the values

5. Clear, consistent consequences.resulting from on or off-track behaviour

Key Characteristics:

1.)  Effective communication of the cultural messages (purpose/vision/values) via

• Both bigger picture announcements, e.g., monthly management/team briefings, conferences as well as lower level communication such as 1 on 1’s, staff noticeboard/news-sheet, a quiet word,…. seemingly little things can often make the biggest impact
• Behaviour,  i.e. how people relate to each other and the external community (notably customers)… how they ‘walk the talk’  and model the values
• Internal symbols e.g. office environment, dress code, unwritten codes/rituals
• Systems/processes such as strategic/operating planning, resource allocation, PMS, reward structure, all of which reinforce the culture....particularly in how they are administered

2.)  Equal attention to both bigger picture aspects and smaller items in all of the above, where the culture is owned and lived by everyone….self-fuelling.

3.)  A focus of the culture on a key aspect (e.g. teamwork, achievement, innovation) which plays to the organisation’s strengths

Benefits of a winning culture

• The foundation of a sustainable, winning .team
• Provides the glue which holds the team together in tough times....team spirit
• Provides a solid reference point for decision-making in cases of ambiguity (e.g. where lack of  role clarity)
• Offers a clear (hopefully attractive) definition of what the organisation is about to existing and prospective employees/stakeholders