Capabilities
Culture Risk Management
What are acceptable risk tolerances for an organization? What defines an innovative culture?
Healthy corporate cultures create parameters to keep risk-takers from going “too far” and have the resilience to maintain their innovative edge. Other cultures are toxic, ticking time bombs waiting for the next scandal, or stagnant waters, stifling innovation and weighing down productivity.
Every organization’s culture is unique and is shaped by the combined individual values of its members. A culture that reflects a balancing of risk, integrity and performance can emerge in organizations where there is alignment among the personal values of the people, the values that exist in the current environment and the values that are needed to ensure the organization’s success.
How does an organization build a great culture that can balance risk, integrity, and performance? Leaders cannot change employees’ values nor impose values on others. But they can create the environment that permits desired values and behaviors to thrive.
Removing the Roadblocks
Generally, people will follow rules, so long as they are fairly and consistently applied. People like to be held personally responsible for their success and they seek to contribute to the organization’s success.
As employees, most individuals have a strong sense of which values are needed for the organization to succeed, and which values help or hinder the current culture. In most organizations employees are likely to already embody the personal values that support innovation, accountability, as well as a true desire to be part of a collegial and supportive work group.
They just may not be bringing those values to work.
Organizations don’t need to instill values in their workforce. Leaders need to let employees live their values by removing the obstacles that pressure employees to cross unacceptable lines or feel disengaged.
Breakthrough Behaviors
Where should leaders start in understanding how to shape their culture?
Leadership must first understand what drives employees’ behavior, and which values, whether positive or negative, have the most influence in shaping expectations of how things get done in their organization.
In every organization there are unique “breakthrough behaviors,” a specific set of actions to be engaged in by a specific set of people that will have the most influence in effecting change. In some organizations pervasive fear and pressure can be managed by showing certain managers how to be active listeners which builds trust. In other organizations frustrations that stifle productivity can be reduced by knowing how to tap into people’s desire to take personal responsibility for their actions.
While culture can seem vague and amorphous, these “breakthrough behaviors” are specific, measurable, and manageable.
