Unwritten Ground Rules: The Way We Do Things Around Here

Transcription

1 Unwritten Ground Rules: The Way We Do Things Around Here Welcome! Steve Simpson Keystone Management Services Some Worthy Values One organisation s values: Communication Respect Integrity Excellence

2 The organisation? Enron Once the seventh largest company in the US Culture Can Bring Down a Space Shuttle The Executive Summary of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board states: The Board recognised early on that the accident was probably not an anomalous, random event, but rather likely rooted to some degree in NASA s history and the human space flight program s culture

3 What Was Wrong with the NASA Culture? Reliance on past success as a substitute for sound engineering practices Organisational barriers that prevented effective communication of critical safety information and stifled professional differences of opinion Lack of integrated management across programme elements Evolution of an informal chain of command and decision making processes that operated outside the organisation s rules Some UGRs in One Organisation!! At our meetings it isn t worth complaining because nothing will get done The only time anyone gets spoken to by the boss is when something is wrong The company talks about good customer service, but we know they don t really mean it, so we don t really have to worry about it Our funniest jokes usually involve making jokes about our work colleagues We go through the motions with our bosses, once they ve gone we do what we want

4 The Smart Talk Trap.. Pfeffer and Sutton, 1999 Around here, if you are able to sound impressive in front of those who count, then you are held in high esteem. Actions and outcomes are not important. Around here, you never want to expose your weaknesses, as this could be used against you in the future. One way to expose a weakness is by admitting that you don t understand what somebody else said The more sophisticated we sound, the more attention we get. The more attention we get, the more rewards The Abilene Parable Jerry Harvey, 1988 Around here, positive group dynamics are most important. Anyone who disagrees does not have the group s best interests at heart, and is trying to ruin positive group dynamics Around here, if the boss wants something done, it s best not to disagree Around here, action any action is better than nothing

5 A Scenario A customer comes into your premises and is obviously angry. He waits in line, which seems to anger him even more. By the time it is his turn to be served, the customer begins complaining in a voice that gets louder and louder. The customer has apparently been trying to resolve a problem over the telephone, but has been transferred from staff member to staff member, without the problem being resolved. Almost without taking a breath, the customer relates his experience and he begins to use language that could be considered offensive.

6 The staff member tries to maintain a quiet and calm approach, but this does not seem to have much effect. Other customers are beginning to come into the premises, and they can obviously see and hear what is going on. The Official Line Isolate the customer (24 responses) Get the manager/supervisor (16) Staff member to calm the customer (19) Listen empathetically (12) Assess the problem (16) Solve the problem (16)

7 What Really Happens Manager/supervisor not available and the customer becomes more angry at the futile attempts by the staff member to resolve the problem in the public area (5 responses) Ask a colleague for help situation gets worse (3) Customer refuses to be isolated (2) Customer storms out of the building (2) Staff don t put up with abusive customers (2) What would your people say? Around here, customers are complainers. Some think we're slackers a necessary pain. Without them I would not have a job - would not be able to achieve my goals in life. But they are not very well informed about our business and this makes my job harder Very demanding; don't know what they really want; don't provide realistic timeframes; expect the world (Simpson, Whitely and Soutar, 2000)

8 What would your people say? Around here, if you criticise your boss you will be frowned upon and probably not advance too far in the business. Unfortunately feedback in the upwards direction is not common practice..it is always when you re with workmates, so the boss never gets to hear of the criticism and continues on his merry way thinking he is doing well. We know that the boss does not like to be criticised anyway (Simpson, Whitely and Soutar, 2000) What would your people say? Around here, being open and honest gets you everything Nowhere. People take it the wrong way, see you as negative, or too different to be of any use to the organisation some attention. However, in some cases it may undermine your career and sometimes be looked upon as a threat. Not everybody likes to know that certain policies & systems are unworkable (Simpson, Whitely and Soutar, 2000)

9 World Survey Results 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Customers are 47% 64% Got a problem, the bosses.. 43% 58% Initiative is 42% 52% Loyalty is.. 49% 44% Valued when 62% 74% If stressed 36% 46% Excellence is 47% 52% Management Non-Management World Survey Results 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Customers are Got a problem, the bosses.. Initiative is Loyalty is.. Valued when If stressed Excellence is Less than 50 staff 51 to 250 staff 251 to 1000 staff More than 1000 staff

10 Using UGRs for Cultural Change Create strategic alignment Awareness of UGRs Stock take of existing UGRs Involvement in identifying desired positive UGRs Ongoing focus on UGR aspirations Create personal alignment Upskill people on the relationships between their behaviours and UGRs Does this Make a Difference? Overall Satisfaction Repurchase Advocacy Pre-UGRs Post-UGRs

11 Does this Make a Difference? Involvement Workload Overall Pre-UGRs Post-UGRs Some Final Thoughts If you do tomorrow What you did yesterday Your future Is history. If you do tomorrow What we ve covered today Your future Is historic!! (Steve Simpson, 2001)