Your customer is unhappy : could this be because of your organisational culture?

Like every Mauritian living abroad, I take pride in every mention of Mauritius in the international press and I get ever so slightly emotional when someone who has been on holiday in Mauritius tells me how beautiful it is and how kind its people has been to them. There is no doubt that us Mauritians are kind people indeed, forever welcoming. However I cannot help but remember every time my loved ones in Mauritius told me of their bad experience with customer service, or how rude someone was towards them.

Most recently, someone very close to me explained they were shouted at when they queried how to set up a direct debit for paying their utility bill, simply because the cashier was too busy. Admittedly, I only visit Mauritius about twice a year. So I face some of this unfair customer experience when I am on holiday, but I mostly just hear about this second hand via friends and family. Now, I am no anthropologist and I will not attempt to be one, but I have been reflecting on such unfortunate incidents from a business lens and I consider organisations and business leaders to have a major role to play to influence good behaviour and an ethical culture.

‘Culture’ in the general sense of the word is a set of norms, behaviours, values or beliefs that is common to a group of people sharing similar characteristics such as location or religion. Similarly, an ‘organisational culture’ is arguably a set of behaviours or the “the way we are doing things around here” that is common to staff working for the same company. Such a culture takes form over time and by itself, not necessarily because of deliberate shaping or influence. If you are not convinced yet, just reflect on conversations you have had with people from other companies. Perhaps some of them talk about how their management promotes a work-life balance and does not like their staff working late, or others complain of their managers expecting them to deliver on time at all costs.

Whilst culture can be positive and drive productivity and effectiveness at work, a poor version of this can be toxic, such as a culture of fear in a very hierarchical company, or when unethical behaviour is encouraged or tolerated. To illustrate this, in 2012, the outgoing CEO of Barclays gave oral evidence to the UK Parliamentary Treasury Committee about Barclays’s involvement in the manipulation of the LIBOR rates (a benchmark that banks charge each other for short-term loans). During that session, ‘culture’ was mentioned at least fifty times when 319 questions were addressed to the CEO, and it was clear that a failure in organisational culture led to poor behaviour among its staff.

Organisational culture emerges on its own over time. If left unattended, it can have negative consequences for companies. The good news is that organisational culture can be nurtured if business values, ethical behaviour and trust are instilled in the organisation, so here are some thoughts on how to begin the organisational culture journey.

First, the leader should recognise that his or her actions, beliefs or commands have a direct impact on how things are done in the company, therefore shaping the company culture. If the leader has a tendency to be controlling, directive or intimidating, then a culture of fear will undoub-tedly permeate throughout the organisation. In my initial example of the utility company, it could well be that the cashier was rude to customers because they are undervalued by their employer. Such attitude is tolerated in the company or because they fear they will get in trouble for not clearing long queues when in fact the company should have addressed capacity constraints.

Second, investigate and reflect on what the company values are or what they are envisioned to be to achieve the company’s way of doing things, e.g. integrity, respect, innovation, etc. The organisation could establish a code of conduct or an ethics charter that explains the type of beha-viour expected from staff and the values to instill in everyday work.

Third, leaders should lead by example and live the company values. Poster campaigns could be run internally to make company values known, or leaders could personally facilitate interactive workshops on what it means to work for that particular company. One of the key enablers is to communicate genuine inspiring messages and articulation of company vision to staff. Another is to ensure that managers are engaging, that they treat people as individuals and create a friendly-working atmosphere, whilst discouraging or addressing any poor behaviour.

Fourth, ensure that company values are embedded throughout the organisation and underpin key business decisions. The recruitment strategy could be designed so that only employees (especially management staff) who can display aptitude for company values are selected. Another example is to only work with suppliers that display similar values, such as treating people fairly or doing business ethically.

Lastly, consult staff or conduct staff engagement surveys to check if the intended culture is in place and subsequently celebrate success but investigate failures.It’s a no-brainer. People can feel a sense of belonging when they work for companies with well-embedded values and culture, just like people can identify with others who share the same culture as them, be it as fellow citizens or people of the same faith. Whilst these two examples take centuries to form, culture within an organisation is not impossible to achieve as long as the organisation’s story, beliefs and ethics are effectively communicated, embedded and led by management. It makes good business sense too. After all, wouldn’t you want to go to a shop where you can see the staff is genuinely happy and no smile is fake? I know I would.