Culture Killer, Qu’est-ce que c’est? Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better run, run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh-oh-oh.
If you’re not familiar with the Talking Heads song “Psycho Killer” you probably think I’m nuts at this point. Also, I have no idea where you’ve been living for the past five decades…but that’s beside the point.
The point is: how do you know if your workplace has a culture problem? Here are a few indicators.
- Are you having trouble recruiting people? 81% of workers feel that corporate culture is somewhat or very important in deciding whether to apply for a job. 86% of job seekers avoid companies with a bad reputation.
- Having trouble keeping people? Millennials prioritize ‘people and culture fit’ above everything else. Guess what — they make up the majority of the workforce.
Still not convinced?
Have you ever found yourself saying “we have a great culture, except…”? Yeah, that “except” — that’s your culture problem. Ever find yourself saying “we just have to convince the board/customers/stakeholders there’s no culture problem”? Doesn’t matter what you tell them, you have a culture problem.
But what (or who) is killing your culture? Culture killer…qu’est-ce que c’est?
A culture killer can be any number of things (or people). I’m sure if we think of our work experience, we can call to mind a person or people we’ve worked with that we would describe as a “culture killer”.
Except, have you ever experienced when that person leaves the organization yet the whiff of the drama remains and no amount of air freshener can cover up that stench? Why is that? Because that one person is often a symptom, not the problem itself. These culture killer behaviours can become deep rooted in an organization’s culture and hard to eradicate.
So what are the “culture killers” to be on the lookout for? Here are some of the top and most common culture killers I’ve experienced.
Top Five Culture Killers
5) There’s no “I” in team
Ever seen a team that’s unwilling to be open and transparent with each other about the files they’re working on, unwilling to collaborate with others or share information? I once encountered a business development team that refused to share any information about their clients with anyone else in the company because of “confidentiality”. I also had team members refuse to collaborate because it was faster and easier to do it all themselves. It’s actually not. This belief that an individual is more competent or important than the team causes siloing and lack of collaboration that not only kills culture, it also kills productivity.
4) Rumour has it
Gossip is a word that gets thrown around a lot, and it’s almost as hard to pinpoint as it is to eliminate. Here are some examples I’ve seen of a gossip culture. Secret meetings or text threads among a group of people where they talk about another person or group of people. Someone who calls you up purely to cut at or make fun of other people. Rumours spread like wildfire. It goes from “did you hear” to gospel across the corporation in 60 seconds. Gossip in an organization is closely linked with fear, lack of psychological safety, and mistrust. It’s a pervasive rot that’s hard to root out.
3) There’s no crying in baseball
There’s a lot of talk about values-based leadership and making work human, and yet…many workplaces still treat people like machines. Humans need not apply, check your feelings at the door. I’ve worked for purpose-driven organizations who have this industrial complex where we are all treated as cogs in the machine. Do your part, meet your targets, that’s all we care about. We certainly don’t care about you. The problem is, the harder an organization (or boss) pushes the numbers, the less engaged people become and the less productive they are. People are not machines and treating them like machines doesn’t make them more productive.
2) The bus stops here
The phenomenon of someone being “thrown under the bus” seems to be so commonplace, we may not identify it as a hallmark of a toxic culture — but it is. Especially if it’s commonplace in your workplace. It doesn’t have to only occur in times of crisis. In fact, it’s even worse if it happens regularly over minor things. I once emailed someone to ask about a meeting they were responsible for organizing and their response was to swiftly throw the admin person under the bus for not scheduling it yet. I had an almost physical whiplash reaction to reading their response. It probably didn’t even occur to that person they were throwing someone under the bus, it was like a reflex. That’s how it spreads.
1) Fear factor
This is the number one culture killer. You watch movies or TV shows and fear is often a prevalent characteristic of those workplaces. The overbearing boss, the faceless “corporate head office”, the constant “am I going to get fired” feeling. It makes for entertaining television, but doesn’t make for enjoyable workplace culture. It is more prevalent in today’s workplaces than we’d like to think or admit. I worked for someone who said “I’d rather be feared than respected.” Seriously. And feared they were. But it didn’t make people work harder for them or the corporation. Quite the opposite. You know the primal fear responses are: fight, flight, or freeze right? Does that sound like a productive and engaged workforce? Not to me.
Look up, look way up
So we’ve established some of the indicators of a culture problem. But where is the root of it all? Ever heard the term “culture starts at the top”? Well, it does. This has been tested and verified. But this post is not about bad bosses (stay tuned for that one). This is about how to identify the biggest hallmarks of a negative culture — the culture killers.
What should you do if you see these culture killers?
If you’re looking for a job, be on the lookout for these and if you see any — run in the opposite direction at top speed.
If you’re in a job and you see these around you, but you’re not the boss, I’m sorry to inform you that there’s little (if anything) you can do to change this if the tone from the top either promotes, ignores, or allows it. So…also run.
If you see these in your organization or your team and you are the boss, you will need to make some significant changes or you’ll continue losing people, productivity, and profit.
Previously Published on lynettetremblay.com
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