Why are strategy and culture important?
How do you approach people strategy and culture in your business? It’s not unusual for organisations to think of strategy as something done in the boardroom, and the culture as some intangible thing to do with ‘How We Do Things Around Here’. What many leaders miss is that culture is the result of the environment created by them for the employees and that it doesn’t matter how good the strategy coming out of the boardroom is, if the employees don’t buy in to it, then it’s unlikely to succeed.
That’s why it’s important to be deliberate about both your people strategy and the culture that exists in your company. Treating strategy and culture as two sides of the same coin can transform the way your employees feel about your organisation and create a work environment that enables them – and you – to succeed.
Your people strategy expresses your longer-term outlook – where you want to go, and how you plan to get there. The culture of your business is reflected in the day-to-day activities and attitudes of your people. It’s about who you are as an organisation, and it can make or break a strategy. It has been said that culture eats strategy for breakfast, but I see them more as two interrelated elements of the People Ecosystem within an organisation.
Bringing these two processes together creates a powerful tool to change your business, welcome and retain the right people and secure stability and growth.
Developing your strategy
It’s easy to think of a good people strategy as making sure you have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time. That’s certainly part of the puzzle, but there is much more to consider around ensuring you provide the right environment for your people to be successful. This may include elements such as job structure, processes, reward, wellbeing and communication all of which are far more effective if they are created as part of the overall strategy, rather than being introduced in a reactionary manner.
Are you rewarding the right behaviours to enable your employees to thrive? Are your people confident they can count on your support for their needs and professional development? Do your strategic plans promote inclusivity, diversity and belonging in your workplace?
Your people strategy holds the key to developing a healthy and supportive culture. A leadership team that is clear about its own identity and the roles of its people has the power to set the tone for the rest of the organisation. As a leader you have the power to shape your employee experience and influence positive experiences in your business.
Understanding your culture
The culture of your business grows from the strategic environment and behaviours set by the leadership team. Employee experiences of management actions (not words or policies) will drive their understanding of your values, beliefs and priorities and will shape how your people feel about your organisation. This in turn will influence their behaviours, the stories they tell themselves and others and their ability to be fully productive.
Leaders seeking to create a positive culture will be aware of their own behaviours, their lived integrity and their ability to demonstrate fairness and inclusion in their actions. This is then reinforced with effective internal and external communications approaches and appropriate performance, reward and wellbeing strategies which enable the organisation to succeed in its strategic goals.
The People Ecosystem
Developing an integrated approach to strategy and culture is an essential element of all successful businesses but can be challenging to implement if you don’t know where to start. That’s why I developed my People Ecosystem model as a proactive approach to help you identify priority people areas and starting points to move your business forward from now. The People Ecosystem model disrupts the patterns that can sabotage organisational performance and guides you through building a successful business – for you and your people.
Contact me
To find out how the People Ecosystem model can improve the strategy and culture of your organisation, contact me on LinkedIn or by phone on 07848 872018, or email at pdennitts@advogroup.co.uk.
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