5 ways leaders can reduce culture tension and save their reputation

Fast, accurate, cheap: pick two.

When companies try to do all three, they create culture tension.

Aaron Kloch, Director of the HR Advisory Practice within Gartner, defines culture tensions as the “points of conflict or contradiction between cultural priorities (e.g., innovation and cost consciousness).”

When values, goals, and branding are at odds, it is confusing to people and creates tension between people.

The tension reduces productivity, increases distrust, and greatly diminishes performance.

Guess what percent of employees face culture tension daily, according to Gartner?

77%!   

Consider these three examples…

#1. A bank whose branding flaunted their tremendous service. Customers came expecting service from empowered, friendly people. Employees saw those commercials too and were eager to provide that level of service. But reality was different for the customers and employees. Service satisfaction was not measured on the annual performance review. Call length was. Call length determined raises, bonuses, and promotion potential, so it was the standard.

The incongruency between brand and their experience caused customers to distrust the company and leave. Employees distrusted it too. They wanted to provide better service but were penalized for it.

See the tension? The company valued service to its customers but call time to its employees.

#2. The tech company whose values include “innovation,” yet five signatures are required for a $1,500 purchase, even though it is within the innovative team’s budget.

See the tension? The company tells employees to value innovation, but the process is so riddled with red tape, it’s exhausting. It discourages innovation and performance.

#3. Nearly every company’s compensation plan is an example. Many companies proclaim their people are their greatest asset, yet the disparity in compensation proves otherwise.

See the tension? Mixed messages cause employees to distrust their manager, HR department, and company leaders.

Do the three examples feel familiar? Can you identify some of your companies culture tensions?

Culture tension is common. Every company has them, especially as they change and grow. Gartner found that 96% of companies are in the midst of organization transformations, so of course culture tensions arise.

The three most common tensions employees face are…

1. Emphasis on quality v. speed

2. Focus on customer v. employees

3. Pressure for efficiency v. innovation

When does your company experience each of those three common tensions? Recognize them so you can do something about it.

Here are five actions leaders can take to reduce culture tension:

1. Understand your culture beyond the words and promises. Really get to know what is happening so you can address the right tensions instead of irrelevant data points.

2. Align the culture with your operations and brand, then communicate this with employees to help guide their behaviors when conflict happens.

3. Arm employees with resources and guidance so they can make decisions when faced with conflicting values.

4. When you look at your culture data, don’t fix the numbers. Focus on the causes for the numbers.

5. Source culture solutions from your people, not just from HR. The solutions will be received better/faster when more are involved.

The key for leaders is to be aware of what is happening, inclusive about solutions, and deliberate about nourishing your culture. Without your attention, your company culture becomes meaningless.

Just last week, a local company’s employees slammed it on reddit in long, public posts that named the leaders who sabotaged the culture and treated employees appallingly. (Note the past tense—the leaders were terminated after the reddit posts went viral.) The company’s reputation is damaged, along with its revenue and retention, because the culture was left to people who did not care for it.

Would your company survive if your employees posted publicly about its culture?

If you are not 100% confident that it would, do something about it. Do not let culture tension get out of hand and damage your company and reputation permanently.

Voyage Consulting Group created the culture assessment that excavates below the surface much better than a survey. Our process includes qualitative steps too, and we synchronize the data so it becomes a more relevant and reliable foundation for understanding and action—better than numbers alone.

Schedule a call to discuss your culture and whether our assessment would be useful to you as you work to ease culture tension. We can help you align your culture, values, brand, and goals so you build trust, improve productivity, and boost performance. Plus, it gives peace of mind to live and lead in alignment.

CEO’s emotions revealed the truth about the company culture

Mr. Chet Cadieux, CEO and Chairman of QuikTrip (QT), gave a speech about his company’s culture to a large group of business professionals in Kansas City on November 21, 2019. If you’re in one of QT’s eleven markets, you know QT. If you’re not, you’re missing out.

QT was founded in 1958 in Oklahoma by Mr. Cadieux’s father, an Air Force veteran. Mr. Cadieux grew up in the company and is extremely fond of it and the people who work there. He is extremely fond of the people. The word “extreme” brings to mind those gusty young kids who ski off mountains and flip and twist or those who jump out of perfectly fine airplanes. As extreme as those people are from “normal” thinking is how much Mr. Cadieux loves his QT people.

During his speech, Mr. Cadieux shared how important the culture is to QT. He said, “The entire purpose of the company is based on the culture.” He said the culture description of QT is not aspirational. It just is.

He shared five values that define QT’s culture and contribute to QT’s success:

1. Be the best and hire people who want to be the best. You can’t teach people to want to be the best. They either always strive to win or they don’t. “Our people are genuinely gutted if we can’t win,” he said.

2. Never be satisfied. He said, “We have institutional paranoia. We know if we don’t  constantly get better, someone could come and knock our socks off.”

3. Focus long-term. Their strategic investments are made twenty years out. A few years ago, I asked the CEO of a long-established organization about his vision for twenty years out, and he thought the question was stupid. QT’s CEO considers it essential.

4. Do what’s right for QT. The philosophy here was summed up by a quote from Mr. Cadieux’s father who said, “QuikTrip is interested in saving the platoon, not saving Private Ryan.” If someone isn’t carrying their weight for some reason, they get thoughtful management attention; however, if the person doesn’t improve, an exit is planned. QT is not going to sacrifice the culture because of one person.

5. Do the right thing. Mr. Cadieux asks people, “Would your mother be proud of what you did today?” Would you be proud to tell your mother what you did today?

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Gas stations and convenience stores are competitive. Heck, as Mr. Cadieux pointed out, gas stations put their prices on gigantic signs on the street, so they can’t compete on price. They have to compete on something else. QT has figured out its culture and how to capitalize on its culture as its differentiator.

Mr. Cadieux spoke for over an hour about the QT culture, and he kept returning to the “guys and gals who wear the red shirts.” Near the end of our time with him, he got choked up when explaining his extreme love of his people, “I knew from my father that my family was financially secure and the people working in the stores were why.”

After composing himself quickly, Mr. Cadieux’s time with us ended, and he left to go visit one of his stores to be with the guys and gals in the red shirts.