Cancer can be cured, BUT you must pick it up early, and treat it!

The same rule applies in business, except that here the cancer is called ‘Toxic Corporate Culture’!

One of our first posts listed 18 fatal business diseases. One of these, a toxic corporate culture, is probably the worst as it is a silent killer. Not readily identified, or diagnosed, it quietly eats away at the fabric of a business until the corporate body is beyond help. The unfortunate part is that no matter what the size of the business, no business is immune!

How do you know if your business is infected? Can it be cured? Well, there are many manifestations of a toxic corporate culture, far too many to cover in a short letter such as this, but the following may help:

The definition of corporate culture is: ‘A set of shared values and beliefs that manifest themselves in the habitual ways organisation members accomplish their work, relate to one another, solve problems that confront them, and interpret their social surroundings’.

Signs to look for in a toxic culture, and these are just a sample, are:

• A low productivity rates.
• Unacceptably high rate of theft (particularly the small things such as stationery).
• Abject time wasting amongst staff and management (long ‘business’ meetings; long tea and lunch breaks; telephone call abuse; late arrivals and early departures).
• Rampant office gossip coupled with its partner called negativity.
• High staff turnover rate.
• Nepotism is regarded as an acceptable practice, and even encouraged to build the so-called ‘closed club’ … bad idea!

 Causes of a toxic corporate culture generally fit into the following broad categories:

• Discipline breakdown usually numbers remarkably high on the list. Managers and supervisors are either too weak, too lazy, or too scared to take disciplinary action against staff, or, more importantly, against each other. Be careful though, hand-in-glove with discipline comes fairness and consistency. Failure to exercise the latter will fan the flames of discontent.
• Expectations management simply does not feature as a management principle. Here we refer not only to staff expectations, but customer expectations as well.
• Goals and objectives of the business and/or department are either not clearly defined by the responsible guardians of the business or are not made known to those supposedly charged with achieving them.
• Greed is probably the ugliest of the causes. It creeps in at senior management level with increases, bonuses, and fringe benefits, soon spreading like a virus throughout the organisation and ends up with unrealistically high prices being demanded from customers/clients.
• Accountability has become a word without definition. Too often pride and ego play a vital role in not allowing people to take responsibility for their performance!
• Lust is one of the seven deadly sins. In a toxic culture the lust for money, power, position, and prestige are all present in one form or another.

 Diagnosis is not always that easy because we often overlook the obvious. An incorrect diagnosis is also very hazardous. Imagine treating throat cancer with lozenges! Unfortunately, to accurately analyse a corporate culture involves a professional ‘Culture Audit’, which varies in cost depending upon the size of the business. Is the investment worth it? Well, what is the life of the business worth?

 Cure is possible, but very often surgery is needed. The parts of the body causing the disease very often must be removed. In some situations, trying to cleanse a toxic corporate culture is like trying to turn an oil tanker with a teaspoon (I trust no readers are faced with this problem!). Thereafter, a carefully constructed, and enforced, culture fitness training programme is sufficient to rectify the situation.

Action is the medicine that cures most ailments in business. For your own sake, take a good look around you, and if you see signs of toxicity in your corporate culture, do something about it before it is too late!

The flip side of the coin is that a healthy, vibrant corporate culture carries unbelievable advantage in terms of competitive advantage, and therefore, bottom line results.

 

Remember that internal misjudgements are six times more likely to cause business failure than external factors. The message is clear … keep objective help close at hand at all times, and if you do not have it, get it without delay.

Success in business is all about the business fundamentals and the actions you take!

QUOTATION:

Great results cannot be achieved at once, and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk – step by step. (Samuel Smiles)

 

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