It takes 5 years to repair a toxic culture 😳 speaking to the This Is Work podcast, Australian organisational psychologist Emily Douglass gave an insight into toxic cultures, the sheer amount of work and commitment required to start to make a difference, and the buy in from leadership (at all levels) required to see momentum and genuine change.
There is no hack for doing away with a toxic culture 🪄
So, how do you know if you have a toxic culture? The first sign is probably that you felt the need to ask the question “is our culture toxic?”
Next, look to your workforce, because it is telling you. The most obvious sign is turnover and lack of tenure. Sickness; not just fake sickies but signs that the toxicity has permeated every day life. Anxiety, stomach issues, fatigue, mental health impacts. For employees it’s things like snapping at your family when you get home, being too tired to do the things you enjoy, the Sunday night dread. The effects of a toxic workplace on your wellbeing aren’t immediate, they slowly seep in, infecting your life. Just like exposure to a toxic chemical.
And then there is engagement. As it is, only about 20% of Australian employees are engaged, imagine how low that figure is at toxic workplaces. Classic signs are employees doing the bare minimum. Just enough to get by and not draw attention to themselves. It doesn’t even have to be intentional, a by product of a toxic workplace is that psychological shift to not caring, not caring about making an effort for the team, the organisation or for themselves.
If you’ve listened to me bang on about engagement you’ll know it’s the psychological connection to the work and the organisation that triggers discretionary effort, creating the level of engagement that is directly tied to achieving business outcomes.
Let’s talk numbers.
Lack of employee engagement costs the Australian economy about $200 billion per year. What influences engagement? Leadership, Directors, Boards, the business owner. Employee engagement levels are a direct reflection of leadership capability. In fact, the direct manager is responsible for 70% of the lack of engagement and employee turnover within their team.
Psychological and psychosocial workplace injury claims cost the Australian economy between $12.2 billion and $39.9 billion annually. Lost productivity due to serious mental health injury claims is more than 4x all other workplace injury claims Australia wide. Unsure of what psychological safety is? Our free fact sheet can be downloaded HERE
An intentional focus on culture & engagement via our EX solution can increase profit by 17%, increase productivity by 18%, reduce absenteeism by 83% and see a 64% reduction to safety incidents.
Changing culture is playing the long game. It’s reprogramming long held habits, it’s gaining trust and buy in, it’s examining structures to question their value.
Let’s transform HR together.
If you would like a strategic approach tailored to your specific business needs contact us to arrange an obligation free chat about how we can help.Through impactful HR we create a positive employee experience every time.We aim to create future-focused, people centred HR solutions to accelerate organisational and employee wellbeing, engagement and performance by making HR easy.
THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE SUPPORTS HR TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS AUSTRALIA-WIDE TO TAKE A FRESH APPROACH TOWARDS THEIR PEOPLE AND CULTURE FUNCTION.
Back in January we unassumingly posted an Instagram Reel that would blow up our account……… and open our eyes to just how truely miserable some people must be at work.
Promoting our Engagement Champions platform we posted a number of Reels dropping a few of the Gallup 12 elements of employee engagement.
3 posts in we dropped the contentious reel which went a little like this “If you’re one of those people who think you come to work to work and not make friends you aren’t going to like what I have to say” “The chances of you being engaged at work without a best friend there is 1 in 12”
“I have a best friend at work” is Gallups most controversial employee engagement question.
The responses we received were split into 2 very distinct camps:
“I hate everyone I work with”
“My best friends are those from school who I’ve known forever”
First of all, for everyone in the first camp – for the love of god go get another job! Life is too short!
For everyone else, the question isn’t proposing you make your work friends your best friends outside of work. “I have a best friend AT work”
Why is this question so important to employee engagement? The biggest driver of employee wellbeing & engagement isn’t what they are doing, it’s who they are doing it with.
When you show up to a meeting with your bud beside you having your back you’re more likely to speak up ……… to show up! Be present! Share ideas! Chuck that “out of the box” suggestion into the discussion!
At its core it’s about creating psychologically safe workplaces, where people feel confident and safe to share their ideas and opinions.
Let’s jump in the Time Machine for a hot minute and picture yourself at school. You have no friends at school, all your friends live the suburb over. You have heaps of fun with them on the weekend and the afternoons you’re allowed to ride your bike to their house. But Monday to Friday? Well, Monday to Friday you are friendless.
Now think about how keen you are to get out of bed each morning and go to school – not so much huh?
How willing are you to put your hand up in class? Nuh uh don’t put yourself out there, what if you’re wrong or people wonder why you’re contributing?
Are you going to talk your school up and share positive experiences? Nope!
Just so we are clear: you hate going, you don’t contribute and you have nothing nice to say about the place.
Juuust in case you missed that this is an analogy for work……. this is what happens to our employees when they don’t have someone they can trust to have their back, or are open to sharing experiences with them.
When you don’t have a psychologically safe workplace, when people are shut off to forming trust relationships at work, this is what you create.
A dysfunctional workplace culture, unengaged, unproductive and disconnected employees.
If you would like a strategic approach tailored to your specific business needs contact us to arrange an obligation free chat about how we can help.
Through impactful HR we create a positive employee experience every time.
We aim to create future-focused, people centred HR solutions to accelerate organisational and employee wellbeing, engagement and performance by making HR easy.
THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE SUPPORTS HR TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS AUSTRALIA-WIDE TO TAKE A FRESH APPROACH TOWARDS THEIR PEOPLE AND CULTURE FUNCTION.
I have 2 sons who work in the mining industry as HD Fitters, their closest friends are also Fitters, and I can tell you this; nobody knows the market movements of pay rates better than my boys and their peers. 😂 They are up to speed and making strategic moves to increase their earnings a good 6 – 8 months before their employers seem to cotton on there’s been some market shifts in pay that they need to address.
I’ve collated salary data over the past 4 years from leading salary guides to demonstrate the impact of skills shortages, closed borders & new perspectives on living on HD Fitter (mining industry) market pays
There’s been a 21% increase at the bottom end of the range just in this financial year alone, the upper range has increased by more than 50% in the past 3 years. If you are in this cohort, and aren’t taking a strategic approach to setting salaries, then there is a very good chance your rates of pay are longer competitive.
While other occupations within the mining industry haven’t seen the jumps like HD Fitters, there have been some significant movements. Dump Truck Operators have only seen a 1% increase over 3 years at the lower end of the pay range, however, there has been a notable 23% increase at the upper end of the range.
Outside of the mining industry, Financial Accountants in general have seen a 15% increase in salaries since 2019/20, yet administration based positions have seen very little movement.
The Approach
How an organisation pays and rewards its people has a big impact on its ability to attract the best talent, ensure that they are challenged and motivated and whether or not they will stay with your organisation. When we partner with our clients we are looking to support the overall organisation strategy, the HR strategy and the desired organisational culture. To be effective, the strategy needs to consider the internal relativities between roles; the organisational needs & values and the external market.
In taking a strategic approach to looking at remuneration and benchmarking total packages we can determine if you should take a temporary or permanent approach to address pay issues. We can consider your employee demographic, industry trends, employee engagement and the future of work in making recommendations to suit your organisation. We can look at non-financial drivers of attraction & retention.
Organisations are only as successful as their approach to hiring the right people, setting clear expectations, engaging employees, managing performance and recognising and rewarding employees for a job well done. If you would like a strategic approach tailored to your specific business needs contact us to arrange an obligation free chat about how we can help.
Through impactful HR we create a positive employee experience every time.
We aim to create future-focused, people centred HR solutions to accelerate organisational and employee wellbeing, engagement and performance by making HR easy.
THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE SUPPORTS HR TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS AUSTRALIA-WIDE TO TAKE A FRESH APPROACH TOWARDS THEIR PEOPLE AND CULTURE FUNCTION.
MYTH – Workplace culture is a HR function FACT – Culture is built from the top, from your leaders
Let’s bust that myth right here. Think about the worst behaviour your leaders are willing to let slide – thats the benchmark for your workplace culture. HR can advise, coach and monitor, but ultimately the leadership at all levels builds the culture of teams and the organisation overall.
Right before Christmas I viewed a Reel from a HR consultant based in the UK. The basic premise was a client had an employee attend work intoxicated after attending the work Christmas party the night before, what the ensuing discussion failed to consider was the impact of letting that behaviour slide on the organisations culture.
There are 2 core areas we need to unpack – the manager who ignores and the manager who perpetuates.
The manager who ignores poor behaviour
We see this a lot and it happens for a variety of reasons. Avoidance of tough conversations, the employee means a lot to the organisation (ie: $$), lack of leadership development, apathy, skills shortages and not wanting to risk losing people.
The reality?
Well the reality is the longer you avoid the conversation the harder it’s going to be when it finally takes place.
The more you make concessions for higher revenue earners & specialised skill sets the more turnover you will have in positions around them.
And the longer you leave your leaders languishing without adequate coaching the longer it takes to rewind cultural issues.
The manager who perpetuates
Where to start – I’m going to put some scenarios out there and you tell me how many you’ve come across.
❌ The manager who blatantly flouts workplace policies ie: the organisation has a strict zero tolerance to alcohol and drugs but they frequently hop in the work vehicle after a few bevvies
❌ The manager who picks and chooses which policies they will follow ie: inconsistent application of policies based on which employees are involved.
❌ The manager who condones and / or participates in unacceptable behaviours ie: conversations about people personal lives, pranking or hazing of employees. Excluding members of the team.
❌ The manager who takes little accountability for issues within their team
The impact to the workplace
Back in 2020 when we wrote THIS post on leadership, Kylie McLerie of Collective Culture Consultancy told us:
“Leadership is, or should be, a people based exercise. Effective leaders are always remembered for how they made people feel valued and part of the big picture, not simply a cog in the wheel.”
Kylie McLerie states the ability to be a great leader comes from the ability to “be the standard that you expect. If it isn’t modelled from the top then it won’t be part of the culture”
An organisations culture is the standard it accepts, not the standard it expects. If a leader can’t emulate the right behaviours then why should your employees?
If a leader in your organisation thinks is kosher to not follow policies and procedures; lead by intimidation and fear; not communicate; speak poorly of clients, employees and / or people from minority groups; withhold relevant information from employees, then guess what?
Your employees will think that it’s ok to act that way as well
Through impactful HR we create a positive employee experience every time.
We aim to create future-focused, people centred HR solutions to accelerate organisational and employee wellbeing, engagement and performance by making HR easy.
THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE SUPPORTS HR TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS AUSTRALIA-WIDE TO TAKE A FRESH APPROACH TOWARDS THEIR PEOPLE AND CULTURE FUNCTION.
What if I told you by asking your employees 12 simple questions, and developing action plans around their responses, we could fuel some hardcore business results for your organisation?
Did you know The People & Culture Office are Gallup Engagement Champions? Gallup is a global analytics and advice firm that helps leaders and organisations solve their most pressing problems. Using data from 160 countries and 35 million respondents Gallup have created a way to measure and impact employee engagement, and use that knowledge to create transformation.
Gallup researchers spent decades writing and testing hundreds of questions because their wording and order are fundamental to accurately measuring engagement. Their research yielded the 12 items that measure the most important elements of employee engagement.
Using the Gallup methodology we can partner with you to build a stronger, more engaged organisation.
When employees are engaged they have a stronger psychological commitment to the organisation; they know the scope of their work and they actively seek out new ways to achieve results; they are productive; they are safer; they are more efficient.
But more than that, they stick around.
So I ask you this……..
Are you ready to embed a new way of leading into your organisations DNA?
Through impactful HR we create a positive employee experience every time.
We aim to create future-focused, people centred HR solutions to accelerate organisational and employee wellbeing, engagement and performance by making HR easy.
THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE SUPPORTS HR TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS AUSTRALIA-WIDE TO TAKE A FRESH APPROACH TOWARDS THEIR PEOPLE AND CULTURE FUNCTION.
Let’s put our thinking caps on for a hot minute. When was the last time you undertook some leadership development at work? Never?
Did you know the direct Manager is responsible for up to 70% of turnover and lack of engagement in the workplace?
Organisations that focus on employee engagement have 43% less turnover, absenteeism reduces by 83% and 64% fewer safety incidents.
But let’s back it up a sec, Employee Engagement? That’s just people being happy & satisfied at work isn’t it?
There is a considerable difference between being satisfied and being engaged at work. It is often the difference between being content and going the extra mile.
For organisations to grow, advance and maximise performance, they need engaged people who work together using their strengths to complement one another. The most effective managers take responsibility for creating an engaged workplace. It sounds straightforward, but it is not always that easy.
To succeed, managers have to bring employees together in collaboration, provide clear direction, put effective measures in place and accept responsibility for maximising each employee’s full potential
And as with every new skill, this needs to be developed.
So thinking about this, and the stats relating to employee engagement;
83% less absenteeism
43% less turnover
64% fewer safety incidents
10% higher customer metrics
18% higher productivity
I ask you this.
Do we continue to blame the skills shortage for our inability to attract & keep employees
Or do we make changes to the way we lead our organisations
Imagine just for a moment if we created workplaces where employees looked forward to coming to work, stayed longer and missed fewer workdays. Where they acted with more confidence and direction and could quickly handle distractions and times of uncertainty.
What would your organisation look like if we transformed the work environment? Would the skills shortage be as big as a factor to your future growth and sustainability?
The People & Culture Office are Gallup Engagement Champions, if it’s time you moved your people function beyond employment contracts and HR policies you can reach out to us here.
Through impactful HR we create a positive employee experience every time.
We aim to create future-focused, people centred HR solutions to accelerate organisational and employee wellbeing, engagement and performance by making HR easy.
The People & Culture Office supports HR teams and organisations Australia-wide to take a fresh approach towards their people and culture function.
Believe it or not we don’t sit in our offices all day dreaming up ways to give you more work or ruin your life.
HR is one of those business functions that people just “don’t get”. They either have this really narrow view of what HR is to business, or they think we are evil b*tches.
The latter is usually because they’ve had some dodgy manager that has allowed them to believe that some decision has been made because of HR.
“I don’t want to do this but HR is making me”
Then, there’s nothing like a manager who doesn’t want to have the tough conversations and puts it back on HR, setting them up as the bad guy.
So, are we all evil b*tches? Well, misconceptions come from somewhere, and absolutely there are some HR people out there doing our sector dirty. Sometime the function itself is outdated and there is no desire to move forward into the new era (or decade) of work, it can have too much red tape and it can all just be a bit too stuffy.
This isn’t how HR should look and feel. And it’s not how we operate.
Let’s unpack some common misconceptions about HR
HR is about protecting the company – HR has a responsibility to minimise risk, sometimes protecting employees is the best way to minimise risk and sometimes it’s protecting the interests of the company. HR’s job is to be a neutral voice of reason, we are there to help leaders and employees navigate doing the right thing.
Yep, a lot of HR people are anti-employee, but this isn’t what HR is, or should be. Sometimes this sentiment is driven by the leaders – if the company you are working for is anti-employee you should probably go find another job
All HR does is hire & fire – Unless you are a dedicated recruiter this is about 10% of what HR is. HR is involved in the hiring and firing process to ensure it is a good process (and a legal process), but we don’t initiate it and it is nowhere near how we spend our days.
HR is easy and anyone can do it – Ok, so we don’t just organise Christmas parties and answer employees questions. A large part of HR is strategising things that may or may not happen in the future, we look at organisational design and ensure you will have the right people to take the organisation forward. We develop initiatives to drive the right culture and build the capacity of your people We manage ego & politics and we need to be able to manage our own emotions when we need to flip from ending someones employment to celebrating someone else’s promotion. HR is full of “big feelings” and you need to be a skilled enough operator to juggle all of that in amongst the day to day & technical aspects of the work.
They are always on our back – If you’re a manager and you aren’t completing a component of your job such as effectively leading your team, then yeah, we are going to be on your back. You know the stakes, if something is part of your job you need to do it. You can’t blame HR for the repercussions of you not doing your job.
Want to learn more about what quality HR is? Click HERE
The People & Culture Office supports HR teams and SMEs Australia-wide to take a fresh approach towards their people and culture function.
With 20-plus years in the HR game behind them, Tiahanna & Simone build capacity and culture in the workplace to drive the achievement of your operational goals and give you an edge in a talent-led economy.
Like what you see? Click around and discover how partnering with us can give your business a competitive advantage by aligning strategy with people & culture, or, give us a like on Facebook for regular updates on industry trends, blog posts & photo’s of us having coffee at our regular haunts and / or our dogs & cats disrupting our work day.
THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE IS A KALGOORLIE BASED HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONSULTING COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES. WE CAN PARTNER WITH YOU TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEE INITIATIVES.
CONTACT US TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DRIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL GOALS.
AT THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE YOU ONLY PAY FOR THE WORK WE UNDERTAKE FOR YOU; NO ANNUAL OR MONTHLY FEES; NO CONTRACTS; JUST QUALITY, LOCAL, SERVICE.
This post is the second post in a series running throughout 2022 taking a deep dive into the new era work. This post is all about job design and how it links to employee satisfaction and productivity.
There’s no denying the past few years have triggered a major shift in how people view work, life and the existential crises that has accompanied living through a pandemic. Even if, like me, you live in Western Australia and have largely been unaffected by lockdowns, poor health and loss of income, there is no doubt that at some point throughout 2020 and 2021 you were given cause to pause and reflect on whether you are truely living an authentic life or not.
Effective job design has an impactful relationship on the achievement of operational objectives and goals. It drives alignment of the HR function to the business structure, process and people goals to better mitigate risks.
The purpose of a job analysis is to provide an in-depth understanding of the competencies required for success in order to select appropriate candidates. The job analysis and design process looks at the current workforce situation and future workforce needs to future proof the organisation. It looks at continuous improvement / automation, grouping of logical tasks and job families, person specifications to best match the position profile, technical skills, capability, societal expectations and influence.
Societal Expectations and Influence
Thanks to a mixture of living through a pandemic and differing personal values of Millennials and Gen Z compared to Boomers and Gen X, the lens through which we view the social construct of work has been turned on its head.
Work from home mandates from 2020 continuing into 2022 has sped up the shift in flexible work arrangements, the connectivity of teams and how job tasks are completed in a remote environment.
The balance of power has shifted to employees, according to this recent ABC Australia article work from home arrangements have increased from 8% of Australians prior to the pandemic to 40% over the past 2 years and is expected to continue at high levels until the pandemic ends. This has opened the job market up to people who may have had barriers to employment in the past such as people with disabilities and primary carers.
There is greater understanding that an employee brings their whole self to work, personal obligations don’t go away when they clock on and return when they clock out. The employee offering is now being looked at as a human deal; inclusivity is all about offering employees choice and a level of control.
The ability to work from in an environment you are physically comfortable in and a structure to suit personal commitments such as child and elder care and home schooling has led to the desire to hyper personalise the work day. Think standing desks, plant lady obsessions, playing soft music and taking breaks when they suit you and your work style best.
What was a niche philosophy of allowing teams to design their own job roles and allocation of tasks to suit individual strengths and career aspirations has grown in popularity.
It’s an understanding that one size doesn’t fit all, that the key to a happy, healthy workforce is about doing the right work, at the right amount, at the right pace and the right time, in the right location.
We will explore this concept further when we look at compensation and benefits, in the meantime you can jump across to my Instagram here and here for a little sneaky peak.
Does the grouping of job tasks make sense? Are your employees dying of boredom?
When allocating tasks do they complement each other or are you building hybrid roles of very different beasts?
Let me explain, and I’m being very broad here, quite often in smaller organisations there will be an employee who undertakes finance, payroll, HR and marketing tasks.
When recruiting you split the role between what is required skills wise and what is required behavioural and capability wise. Building a person specification (info which guides organisations to determine which employees are best fit for specific jobs) based on the above brief is an exercise in contradictions.
Finance people tend to be black and white, numbers focussed, introverted, problem solving is viewed strategically and focussed on cost. Good HR and Marketing people are creative, empathic and can weigh up the shades of grey to determine a win win solution to problems. Problem solving is viewed both holistically and strategically with bent towards risk minimisation, even if that may be the most expensive option.
How easy is going to be to find an employee that fits a person profile ticking all those boxes?
Jobs need to be looked at realistically and critically, maybe the answer is to have two part time employees instead of just one?, or maybe outsource some tasks? It isn’t just about what needs to be done but who is around to do it.
And of course once you have a clear picture of the knowledge, skills and abilities of the job at hand it is much easier to determine an appropriate pay level that reflects the position requirements.
Another factor of job design that greatly impacts productivity and retention is the “sexiness factor” of the job.
Think about a receptionist / switchboard operator for a large corporate. If you’ve ever sat at a switchboard with 20 incoming phone lines you will know this to be true:
a) it’s very busy and talking all day is draining
b) people are rude
c) it can be soul destroying
To provide some variety to keep employees engaged, productive and employed, the organisation may choose to invest in automation to divert incoming calls to the relevant department greatly reducing calls at the front desk. This would free up the employee to undertake a greater range of duties, aiding to break up the day and maintaining focus and attention.
This is a simple but effective example of using technology to address factors contributing to turnover in the organisation. This reduces costs, increases efficiencies and retains corporate knowledge.
We will have a lot to unpack in the coming months, so if you don’t already, follow us on our socials here and here, navigate back to our blog roll and sign up for newsletters, or, follow me on Linkedin for regular education posts just like this.
It’s time for HR to move beyond policies, practices and processes, HR’s value proposition to business is to ensure HR professionals and their practices’ produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders, employees, line managers, customers and investors.
Like what you see? Click around and discover how partnering with us can give your business a competitive advantage by aligning strategy with people & culture, or, give us a like on Facebook for regular updates on industry trends, blog posts & photo’s of me having coffee at my regular haunts and / or my dog & cat disrupting my work day.
THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE IS A KALGOORLIE BASED HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) CONSULTING COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES. WE CAN PARTNER WITH YOU TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH EMPLOYEE INITIATIVES.
CONTACT US TO ARRANGE AN APPOINTMENT TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO DRIVE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL GOALS.
AT THE PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICE YOU ONLY PAY FOR THE WORK WE UNDERTAKE FOR YOU; NO ANNUAL OR MONTHLY FEES; NO CONTRACTS; JUST QUALITY, LOCAL, SERVICE.
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