The culture of an organisation has such a big impact on performance that Peter Drucker famously once said “Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast.” What I believe he meant by this is that no matter how smart your strategy is, if the culture is not aligned then your organisation cannot deliver and is therefore ineffective. Here are 5 ways you can tell if your Culture is working:

How are decisions made (really)?: Do people have the autonomy to make decisions that impact on their area of responsibility or do they always have to refer to a higher authority?

How are meetings run? Do people have the opportunity to contribute and have their point of view heard or do only the loudest get the attention?

Where do new ideas come from and how are they developed? Is time set aside for creative problem solving and innovation or are you always fighting fires and looking for quick fixes?

How do customers experience your business? Do customers have a ‘seemless’ experience throughout their journey with you or are they left to navigate it by themselves?

How do employees experience your business? Are they engaged and developed to add value to the business or are they just cogs in the wheel?

Many organisations espouse the values of autonomy, contribution, innovation, customer service and engagement. But how do these values play out in practice? To find out, my advice is: walk the corridors, sit in on meetings, talk to customers and staff and ask yourself “Is our culture working?”

Want help? Give us a call and ask about how we have helped other businesses make their culture work better.