Culture will eat strategy for breakfast

Let’s take the Monday morning test…..

The alarm sounds. It is the start of the new working week. How do you feel?

Do you bounce out of bed looking forward to getting to work? Do you feel excited about seeing your work colleagues again? Have you missed the bosses because they truly are great leaders because they inspire and motivate you to do your best work?

If you are nodding at this point and feel positive, the chances are you work in a place that has a great organisational culture. If you scoffed and thought “yeah right, this is not the real world” this means there is room for improvement and perhaps a need for intervention at your workplace.

What does it mean to have great culture and meet the Monday morning test? Workplaces are an extension of peoples’ lives. It shapes a person’s identity and outlook in a range of areas. There is a great culture at work when :

you find meaning in going to work
you feel pride in the workplace and are not ashamed to tell others where you work
You trust the bosses
You have built friendships among the people you spend time with at work.

This is backed by research which shows:

66% workforce is disengaged. A positive culture can increase engagement by 30%

Organisations that ignore culture experience 48% turnover rate.

The flow-on effect:

disengaged staff + high turnover = loss in revenue and business growth.

In short – Culture is critical to organisational success.

Ignore it and in the words of the famous Peter Drucker