Do you play the Blame Game?

When something goes wrong, a number of organisations and managers need someone to blame and they set about instigating a hunt to put a name to the culprit without ever thinking of the impact that this has on employees.

When this happens employees will try to cover up mistakes and hide problems hoping that no one will find out. Genuine mistakes may go unnoticed and unreported which may lead to even greater problems in the future. The result is that nothing ever gets resolved.

Blaming Culture at Work

However, the impact of harnessing a blame culture is far greater than unresolved issues. Staff will lack initiative and creativity in case they make a mistake and are more concerned with covering their own back rather than engaging in more productive actions. If any staff member receives negative feedback for their actions, then this will soon become common knowledge within the workplace, especially if they have been dealt with harshly. This will result in them losing trust and respect for their leaders.

If you use or hear such language as “who is responsible for this” or “when will they ever learn?” then this is the language of a blame culture. Rather than being focused on learning how to improve the situation or on the solution, this is focusing on finding someone to blame because it is always someone else’s fault.

So how do you move from a blame culture towards a culture where people feel empowered to take responsibility?

• Recognise that everybody makes mistakes
• Thank people for bringing problems to your attention
• Praise what people have achieved
• Take responsibility for your own actions
• Clarify what lessons can be learnt
• Recognise staff for identifying problems early and for suggesting improvements

There is no such thing as failure, only results.  If we all learn from our results, then we can never fail. Just a small shift in mind set and language can make a huge difference.

Yvonne Bleakley
Learning Consultant, Capita Learning & Development

How To Change Your Company Culture

Barclay’s recent job cuts announcement includes a vow to ‘change the corporate culture’ of the organisation.  How realistic is that as an aim?

Organisational Change

New CEO Anthony Jenkins is wise to say that it will take ‘five to 10 years’ to embed genuine change. Culture is the very essence of an organisation.  There is a debate about whether culture is something an organisation “has” – a characteristic which can be changed in the same way as new equipment can be bought or processes introduced, or whether it is something an organisation “is” – so fundamental to the DNA of the organisation that it permeates all elements of organisational life.

Cultural models reflect this complexity. The well-known cultural web developed by Johnson and Scholes provides one illustration. The web is made up of a number of elements:

• The events and stories that people talk about
• The rituals and routines that show what is important and what‘sanctioned’ behaviour is
• The symbols, from the organisation’s brand and buildings to the language that people use
• Who has real power – to keep the status quo or make improvements
• What controls are in place – both measurement and reward systems
• The formal organisational structure – showing both who and what is important

At the centre of these six elements is what Johnson and Scholes call the ‘paradigm’: those deep unstated assumptions about the organisation that are so taken for granted, people don’t even know they have them.
To make it worse, few organisations have a single culture.   Subcultures proliferate – forming for reasons as varied as the requirement for an R&D division to work in a particular way to make its contribution, to the different basic assumptions that contribute to the world view of people from varying national cultures in a multi-national organisation.

So is change possible?  Yes, but it is important to recognise the limitations and risks.  As well as multifaceted, culture is multi-layered.  Ed Schein, father of organisational cultural theory, paints a picture of the levels of culture: Artifacts– things that can be seen, heard and touched as soon as you walk through an organisation’s doors.  Espoused values and beliefs - what people say is important. And finally – the basic, underlying assumptions that form the beating heart of the organisation. These assumptions build up over an organisation’s lifetime as a result of people finding a way of being that ‘works’ and works repeatedly when tackling challenges. That level of ‘taken for grantedness’ is tough to permeate – which helps explain the anxiety and resistance that can scupper the most well-meaning change efforts.  Though it also means that there are times where it is obvious that ‘the world is shifting’ when cultural change is the most likely – as it becomes increasingly clear that the old ways of being simply just won’t cut it for the future.

Changing culture means being in it for the long haul, taking a holistic approach – and recognising that intended changes often end up having unexpected consequences. No blog post could do justice to the complexity of what is required. A few pointers, in particular from a communication perspective include:

• Clarity. Populate the cultural web to understand where your culture is now, and where you need it to be
• Help people to ‘unlearn’:  use communication to help show why the current way of being just won’t work for the future. Better still, find ways people can find this out for themselves (e.g.: ask groups to conduct their own market research) 
• Support leaders in being tangible and explicit about what is changing (and what isn’t).  Highlight role models to help people ‘reframe’ their thinking.   Engage – providing structured opportunities for people to make their own informed decisions about solutions.
• Provide a safe environment.  Fear of failure or looking stupid is a big stumbling block.  Listen to understand concerns, then communicate the support that is being put in place.
• Recognise the power of the peer group – especially in the digital age.  Nurture and support ‘informal’ leaders
• Publicise and reinforce successes – and encourage people to do the same through internal social media platforms.

Liz Cochrane

Course Director, Masters in Internal Communication Management

Effective Internal Communication: But How?

Communication is a word we know all too well. But what does it really mean? Communication is: “the act or process of transmitting information (as about ideas, attitudes, emotions, or objective behaviour)”, Merriam-Webster.com, 2012 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Communication is a two way street - not only talking - but listening as well. Communication is a dialogue, not a monologue.

Internal Communication in the office refers to communication between employees and employers, employers and employees and between employees and employees.

But why is it important to communicate successfully internally in an organisation? 

Internal Communication is a critical success factor in any organisation and should feature on each company’s list of priorities. Over the years organisations have learned that employees will discuss work, projects and the culture in the office on a regular basis. It’s far better to set agendas and discussion points than to have uninformed employees discuss topics they know very little about.

Open communication between employers and employees leads to greater engagement on both sides and employees feeling valued and involved in the organisation’s future.  It can lead to increased staff morale and as previously mentioned staff engagement. Internal Communication also affects staff performance and thus the organisation’s ROI, reputation and brand. When staff understand what is required of them on a daily basis staff morale is high and this increases the organisation’s success. Happy employees lead to happy customers.

Internal Communication is also at the forefront when any changes occur in the organisation. Internal changes within the company will only be successful if the staff are involved and consulted during the change process.  Employees need to have a firm understanding of why change is necessary. 

In order to be effective Internal Communication needs to:

1. Communicate business objectives in a clear and precise manner
2. Should be written in easily understandable language
3. The communication’s results should be easily measured
4. Is delivered in a medium and at a time the receiver is happy with 

Benefits of Effective Internal Communication:

1. Greater staff morale, engagement and motivation
2. Better and more effective management
3. Successful external communication as internal communication complements external communication
4. Employees communicate and live the brand’s key priorities and vision, take Apple for example 
5. Staff will feel involved in any changes taking place in the organisation, thus are less likely to leave once these changes occur 
6. Happy and satisfied staff will lead to happy and satisfied customers 
7. Informed decision making

View our Postgraduate Diploma In Internal Communication Management. Or for more details please contact us on 0800 022 3410 or email us with your query: enquiries@capita-ld.co.uk