Leading Corporate Culture in a Changing World
Stop and look around at the cultural, political and business situations in your immediate vicinity. Here’s the list of things I see around me:
- The world is shrinking. Easy and inexpensive travel, improved communications and growing global wealth have opened up opportunities previously available only to reasonably wealthy, primarily western peoples.
- Diversity is happening at a very rapid rate. “Differences” used to be considered a problem to be dealt with. Today, those same differences are embraced as opportunities to expand thinking.
- Global wealth allows people to think to a greater degree about quality of life and “self actualization” issues – work/life balance, environmental health and philanthropy are a few examples.
- Multiple generations make up today’s workforce. “Retiring” is not the goal it used to be and many people have no desire to stop being productive in the marketplace.
- The marketplace accepts the reality that business outcomes are not necessarily dependant on large infrastructure.
- Political and corporate hegemony is old school. Power now comes from influencing rather than forcing, leading rather then demanding.
As I look at my list, I’m forced to consider how I run my business. I will be seeing a more diverse workforce – how will I accommodate that and make that a strength? I will encounter more international business opportunities – do I have the knowledge to take advantage of those? Is the corporate culture and work experience at my company designed to support the needs of employees while generating a return for the company?
Recognition and reward systems as well as communication methods need to reflect the reality of the world you live in now. Take some time to “audit” the tools you control to impact your corporate culture and drive the behaviors that mean success for your company. In my experience, too many companies allow these tools to lag the reality of the situation they’re supposed to address.
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