Unwritten Ground Rules

Ask yourself one question.

If the culture of your workplace was to become as good as it realistically could be – would there be an improvement on business performance and productivity?

It’s a brand-new year and if you haven’t already, now is the time to be reflecting on what worked last year, what did not, your achievements or your key learning curves. It’s time to set new goals, ponder your next business development project or you may have been too busy to give any of this a thought at all! If that’s the case – we’ve been doing some thinking for you.

Let’s take it back to basics.

Have you ever worked in an organisation that ‘valued’ innovation yet anytime someone brought up a new idea it was shut down? Maybe the CEO offered an ‘open-door policy,’ but it was VERY evident that this was not the case? Ever completed an online training module condemning ‘workplace bullying’ only to walk down the corridor and hear your colleagues gossiping?

According to Steve Simpson – Unwritten Ground Rules (UGR’s) are your employee’s observation of ‘this is the way we do things around here.’

The ideas guru might complain to others

“Around here, when you put your ideas forward you just get shut down.”

A supervisor might tell a new starter

“Around here, the CEO’s open-door policy isn’t REALLY an open-door policy.”

We’ve all heard

“Oh, those training modules are just a formality – plus the boss loves to jump in on the office gossip!”

Got your answer to that question yet?

If you’re not sure, that’s okay. Steve Simpson has done the hard work for you and gathered some startling results!

When conducting his own research, he found that 9 in 10 senior leaders answered a minimum 20% improvement on business performance/productivity would occur if the culture was as good as it realistically could be.

Presenting the same question to middle managers, a result of 6 in 10 answered a 50% or more improvement on business performance/productivity would occur if the culture was as good as it realistically could be.

So, 0% to %100 where do you think you sit? In the famous words of Peter Drucker – culture eats strategy for breakfast!

Culture is key!

Research indicates that 132,000 employees in 900 Australian and New Zealand companies were concerned with an obvious gap between an ideal workplace culture and the actual workplace culture. So, in other words, you’re not alone if you feel the gap.

If we can conclude anything – it’s that good workplace culture is going to get you somewhere. Want to work on your workplace culture? It’s time to reel in those UGR’s again.

The power of Unwritten Ground Rules

Change your UGR’s and you change your culture. UGR’s aren’t all bad – you’ll find you have a few good ones floating around such as

“Around here, the CEO will want to understand what professional development opportunities they can provide for you.”

Or

“Around here, management really prioritises mental health amongst the team.”

The key is to squash the harmful stuff and elevate the good stuff. Assess which harmful UGR’s are rotating and whether you have created, contributed to, or allowed these to persist. Assess which good UGR’s are rotating and continue to prioritise these.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. UGR’s …subtly… yet ever so loudly say a lot about an organisation.

So, what do your UGR’s say about YOUR organisation?

In the realm of First Nations recruitment – it is important to consider how UGR’s can translate into something more serious.

If you’ve hired a First Nations candidate in a mid-level role yet your business has no First Nations leaders in decision-making positions, is the UGR that First Nations employees only ever belong in operational roles? When First Nations candidates are settling into a new role, are they surrounded by colleagues that value cultural knowledge while also recognising the weight of cultural responsibility? If not, is the UGR that the organisation has a culturally unsafe workplace? If Maya Angelou taught us anything it’s that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Remember that you’re looking to elevate the good stuff – and we can certainly guarantee that First Nations employees fit into that category.