The difference between correct and right.
So, a recent experience related to me by another executive got me thinking about how we do what we do and, the unintended consequences that stem from our actions.
No entrepreneur sets out to create a bad culture, no business leader starts out with the express intention of building a successful company through nurturing an atmosphere of apathy, a culture of “couldn’t care less” but, often we look at the state of play in an organisation and ask “How the heck did we arrive at this place, where the customer is an inconvenience and staff are uncommitted to our mission.”.
There are many steps along that road but one of the most significant contributors to cultural development is the “parental prerogative”, the “leadership lessons” that as a CEO/CFO/CTO or Manager you pass on and cement as part of your everyday interactions and visible decision-making.
Let me share the story…
So a particular staff member had been employed by the media company for two years as an intern on a very low wage learning the trade, gaining experience in an office environment etc. but, with the expectation that they would be kept on and given a wage rise in line with their work and attitude at teh end of their internship. At the appropriate time, the salary proposed by their line manager would have meant that their take-home would treble and the salary would be rounded up to the nearest $K. Now although the proposed salary was not massive (would be circa $20k) it was above the minimum wage and showed an appreciation for their commitment, giving them a platform for future salary rises at a decent starting point.
Unfortunately, the CEO nixed the specified salary increase, dropping it by circa $800 such that the (now permanent employee) was on the absolute minimum they could expect to be paid by law.
So, for the sake of $800 the CEO effectively told all her staff that they would be paid only what the company could get away with, not what they were worth to the company.
The CEO’s thinking was that essentially the ex-intern should be grateful that they have a job, that they were kept on and that their salary had tripled. The salary increase was not because they were valued but because the company had a legal duty to do that and they did, the bare minimum.
When you are building a company, culture is one of the most IMPORTANT contributors to the speed and means of your success. You create a tribe of people coalescing around the same core mission and values. Do you want innovation? Be innovative. Do you want the customer to come first? Put your team first. As a leader you are a torchbearer for the culture you want, you are the canary in the coalmine of the prevailing organisation mindset. People will follow your example and translate that into an active culture and we know that CULTURE EATS STRATEGY every time.
The cultural impact of that small decision will reverberate for a long time and, it signals to any other employee no matter their position or the effort they put in, the commitment they show, they will be paid only what the company can get away with.
Now of course there are considerations in regards to cash flow, reverse-precedent and no-doubt other reasons but, this level of control coupled with a complete lack of cultural empathy can severely backfire and take a long time to resolve culturally.
TAKEOUT:
Doing the CORRECT thing and doing the RIGHT thing can sometimes seem like the same thing but when it comes to creating your organisational culture, the space between the two is the distance between the culture you want and the culture you get.
