Why promoting a healthy workplace culture is so vital

We regularly advise clients on the importance of a strong, healthy and supportive workplace culture. We promote the many benefits that come from a workplace where psychological safety is part of the organisation’s DNA, and use real-life examples of failing organisations (where confidentially appropriate, of course).

Sadly, however, it’s becoming increasingly common for there to be public, high profile and very serious examples of organisations which have suffered as a result of workplace culture failings.

Getting it wrong: two recent examples from across the Atlantic

Two such high-profile and recent examples are the Coldplay-induced Astronomer CEO scandal earlier this year, and the US Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation report into the tragic imploding of the Oceangate Titan submersible, which was released a few weeks ago. The reputational, financial and cultural damage caused to those organisations cannot be overstated.
 
An introductory point on the Astronomer situation: not wanting to step into the debate on the rights and wrongs of affairs, it must go without saying that the issues are particularly complex when they blur professional lines. It’s that latter point which warrants further consideration from a workplace culture perspective, as it’s perfectly understandable for employees to expect their Chief People Officer (with whom Andy Byron, Astronomer’s ex-CEO, was having the affair) to uphold and example positive behaviours. Arguably more so than other employees, C-Suite and those in HR roles should be expected to uphold the values, standards and principles which an organisation otherwise publicises as being indicative of its good workplace culture. Senior individuals can, and should, be expected to ‘lead from the top’, to set the tone for what behaviours are acceptable and to live the organisation’s purported culture. Without that, and without equal accountability for all levels of employee, trust is certain to be lost - and we all know that trust takes years to build but days to break.
 
We also need to acknowledge that, absent the moral assessment of senior executives engaging in affairs, there’s a real risk of a conflict of interest that could have a detrimental impact on the performance of the company, its external reputation and – just as importantly – the respect of its employees.

A number of other allegations have since come out about a poor culture at Astronomer, including there being a negatively hierarchical culture, executive privilege and policies not being enforced (in effect rendering their existence all but useless). Add to that a LinkedIn comment by the interim CEO which appeared to belittle the situation and focus more on the ‘no such thing as bad publicity’ angle and you have a number of examples of an organisation that just isn’t getting it right. In my experience, they’re not alone.
 
With regard to Oceangate, the recent report and comments from employees in the wake of the incident state that the organisation had a toxic workplace culture which allowed for critically (and catastrophically) flawed safety practices, an ineffective whistleblower process and intimidation tactics being used against its employees. This all culminated in a harrowing example of where a lack of psychological safety and a fear of retribution for raising safety concerns resulted in the most serious of consequences. 

Thankfully nowhere near to the same extent, but again, in my experience, the organisation is not alone in lacking psychological safety and isn’t the only company that overlooks the value of mutual trust between it and its employees.

Getting it right: some solutions

So what can be done to avoid these types of workplace culture? Clearly, management buy-in from the start is essential and should be made visible to the employees. Then, put simply, it starts with investigation, honesty and critical self-analysis of the organisation as a whole. Without that, it’ll be difficult to understand the true workplace culture present within any organisation.

Having come to that understanding, the organisation can then measure against where it wants to be and, sometimes more usefully, where it believes itself to be. It’s then about breaking the issues down and grouping concerns into themes, locations, business areas, or employee groups, for example. Neither Rome nor good workplace culture were built in a day and addressing the overall issue in stages will also allow you to demonstrate to employees at regular intervals the efforts being made.
 
We’ve worked with organisations of different sizes, sectors and levels of D&I maturity to provide support with and facilitate their desired cultural change. We’ve been able to not only advise them on and provide, for example, workshops to senior managers, but also to provide advice to the Board on the legal risks arising out of any cultural failings. The latter advice can also follow an investigation into alleged inappropriate conduct, where that might unfortunately be necessary.
 
We work in partnership with clients to provide tailored solutions that create real, lasting, and business-beneficial cultural change. Please contact us if you would like to discuss your D&I journey further.