Category: Book inspiration

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Book inspiration Leadership and HR

What is an Organisational Culture Strategist, and what do they do

Whenever I am asked about what attracts me the most and what I enjoy doing the most in the P&C field, and I respond that it is with organizational culture strategy, I can see the question mark forming in the person’s mind.

Hmm, tell me more

Unfortunately, there is no formal and popular designation for this role – culture strategist – but I see how much it would benefit if we could formally create this role within the P&C area, identifying and developing individuals who truly connect with the challenges of this position.

This role is particularly important in times of transition: mergers between companies, new products, AI transition, new market positioning, or simply because the company has decided that a culture change is interesting for the business.

But after all, what would an organizational culture strategist be?

Starting from the beginning, what is organizational culture?

There are several significant elements involved in organizational culture; according to Edgar Schein (1985), there are three levels of organizational culture: artefacts, shared values, and basic assumptions. Each of them plays a different role:

Artefacts: These are the most visible and tangible elements of culture, including physical architecture, rituals, symbols, language, and attire. For example, formal company policies, office layout, or even celebration rituals. This is the most superficial element, easy to change, and has little to do with the real CORE of the culture.

Shared Values: In addition to visible artefacts, Schein highlights shared values, representing the beliefs and norms considered important by organization members. These influence behaviour and decisions, noticeable in the company’s priorities, such as emphasis on innovation, quality, or collaboration. For instance, in a company that strongly values “Social Responsibility,” employees regularly participate in local volunteer initiatives, fostering an environment where community engagement is a common practice. This culture is reflected in daily actions, such as organizing charitable events and integrating ethical values into business decisions, demonstrating the company’s commitment to social responsibility (Schein, 1985).

Basic Assumptions: This deeper level encompasses underlying and unconscious assumptions that guide the thinking and actions of organization members. These assumptions are often so internalized that people may not even be aware of them. Examples include beliefs about the nature of work, the relationship with authority, or the vision of success. In an organization where the basic assumption is “Mutual Trust,” team members operate with the fundamental assumption that everyone shares a commitment to integrity and collaboration. This is reflected in open communications, delegation of responsibilities, and a willingness to take calculated risks, as everyone operates from the underlying belief that colleagues will act ethically and in alignment with the company’s goals (Schein, 1985).

Therefore, an organizational culture strategist works on managing these elements of culture:

  1. Artefacts:
    • Evaluates and manages the sensory elements of the organization, such as office architecture, language used in internal communications, rituals, and symbols present, as well as Policies and Procedures. Do these artefacts align with the culture we want to adopt?
  2. Shared Values:
    • Communication and Feedback: Evaluates and manages how the company’s values are communicated and reinforced, whether through meetings, training, or feedback. The mode here is particularly important because it reveals many non-obvious values of an organization. In addition to communication, systems, and parameters of Rewards and Recognition are great signals and indicators of how the deeper values of culture are multiplied.
  3. Basic Assumptions:
    • Observation of Behaviour: Analyses the daily behaviour of organization members to identify patterns that reveal underlying assumptions, such as openness to innovation, trust in teams, etc. How are problems solved? How is decision-making in non-obvious situations? – especially when there is no standard and preconceived answer.

A well-designed organizational culture strategy encompasses every point where the employee interacts. Therefore, it is essential to map the employee journey and how we can reflect the values we want at every touchpoint. From the initial approach in a recruitment and selection process to the moment of departure. All these stages are opportunities to reinforce and multiply the culture we would like to adopt.

A culture strategist goes through all areas, revisiting processes, routines, and approaches. They also train people and monitor progress. It is not a quick process because it involves behaviour change and the creation of new shared values, taking time, mostly years. But it is a manageable process, subject to intervention when done with intentionality, strategy, and a systemic vision.

Categories
Book inspiration Well-being

The power of not being special

Like Lucy, I am part of that generation Y that thought (or still thinks?) that we would conquer the world with all our creativity, talent, and enthusiasm for life. Many of us, unconsciously inspired by a few examples of privileged young millionaires from big techs, fawning parents and the unbeatable comparison power of the internet, my generation found itself reaching 30 slightly frustrated: without job satisfaction (if not sickened by it), still living with their parents and feeling like they chose the wrong career or college.

Without even understanding why our castle of expectations had no land to be built on in the real world. No one was interested in our disruptive ideas and for some unknown reason, even though we were a little snowflake, it didn’t guarantee us the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (or of the month).

The only possible one

In addition to this frustrating background scenario, we also have other actors in the scene. A mix of I-have-to-be-amazing-to-be-accepted combined with only-perfect-has-place led us to paralysis many times. According to our successful career criteria, if you’re going to do something, make it “unbelievably amazing”. 

I feel that although we consciously know that the imperfect done is better than the perfect not done. However, like living as a dependent, we know that it is not healthy, but if we falter, we return to our natural pattern of self-demand of looking for perfection.

Also, as we move up our spiral of desires, we tend to not look down anymore. So that new step, which before was just a dream, today no longer satisfies us, so we want to reach a higher level, then after reaching that, we strive for the next one and then the new next one… It’s like a rat race, with no start and no finish line. 

And yes, unfortunately, we often already crossed the finish line, we just don’t realize it.

One answer that is always suggested for this spiral of self-demand is to lower our expectations. However, it is curious that when I think about it, it seems to me that to reduce my expectations is to see myself as someone without ambition and that would be to reduce the quality and intensity of my work. Crazy, isn’t it? Is there no room for negotiation?

Reflecting on this, I realized that a possible middle path is to see yourself as an ordinary person. Simple: you don’t owe anyone anything to have to be the next cover of Forbes, your YouTube video may not get many views, and you don’t need to write a book at 30. It’s okay, you still do good work, and you can be very happy, truly happy. You and I most likely do not belong to the 1% who have meteoric careers because, in fact, we are the rule. And you know the most comfortable part of it? The absurd majority are neither.

And what’s beautiful about not being special? I believe that the best part of not having to be amazing is the freedom to make more mistakes, and as a result, I allow myself to dream more, take more risks and expose myself more. This brings more confidence and promotes a more empathetic look at others. This thought made me see the strength of the collective instead of individual protagonists.

In many companies, we still believe in the saving power of a hero, someone who arrives and surprisingly solves all problems in an almost mystical way, and of course with little effort and time. Awards, bonuses, palms, badges, stamps… The circus of celebrations is complete.

“It’s an HR’s idea”

When I moved to Sweden, I read a short but enlightening book about Swedish work culture. This was one of the books that helped me understand the rules of the game around here. One of the terms explained in the book was “Jantelagen”:

“Jantelagen is a concept coined by Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose (…) jante is used to describe a condescending attitude towards individuality and success (…) The law of Jante goes a long way in explaining widely-spread attitudes and values in Sweden, particularly in the way Swedes encourage moderation and homogeneity as opposed to EXCELLENCE, extraordinary achievements of eccentricity, and how the latter is sometimes met with disdain or even BULLYING”

Anne Pihl and Sofi Tegsveden Deveaux – Working in Sweden: The A–Z Guide.

This concept has 10 laws:

• You’re not to think you are anything special.

• You’re not to think you are as good as we are.

• You’re not to think you are smarter than we are.

• You’re not to imagine yourself better than we are.

• You’re not to think you know more than we do.

• You’re not to think you are more important than we are.

• You’re not to think you are good at anything.

• You’re not to laugh at us.

• You’re not to think anyone cares about you.

• You’re not to think you can teach us anything.

In conclusion, this concept describes a culture that discourages the ostentation of status, success, prestige, and especially hierarchy. 

Very inspiring, isn’t it? What creative freedom this brings us! It relieves leaders of having to bless impossible decisions and protects us from the narrative of having to handle everything and then some. Especially for us women, maybe a little sigh in the face of so much perfection demanded in a veiled way, by ourselves and others. Yes, we can shed the heavy cap of the superhero and take on the power of the collective. Phew! Nobody needs to be special.

References:

Categories
Book inspiration Leadership and HR Open Diary Well-being

What the pandemic sabbatical year has done for me

The year was 2019, my husband received an offer to work in Stockholm and after a few months, we were in Scandinavian lands.

I’ve always had the desire to take some time just to study. I had been working in HR for 10 years without interruption and felt that my undergraduate degree in Psychologist, MBA, eventual courses and books didn’t answer my questions. Perhaps because of the volume of work, I felt that I wasn’t able to digest all the content I was consuming and enjoy it in practice.

Then, I saw this opportunity as almost a calling to be able to dedicate myself to answering these questions. Below I recap the 3 big questions I had about my career that this time has brought me answers.

also good for catching up on my reading
Question 1: How do I balance (is there a balance?) the interests of the employer and the employee in my role in HR and as a leader?

Working in the people area, I sometimes found myself in a kind of tug-of-war. At one time I defended the interests of the company (that’s what I was there for, isn’t it?) and at another time I defended the interests of employees, and many times these positions were conflicting.

Actually, I felt that I lived in a kind of identity conflict, many times I didn’t feel truly authentic with the decisions I made. There was a piece missing, but at the time I believed I was missing a decision: I should decide “which side I was on”. I believe that every HR professional feels that way at some point. “Who do I work for?” is a question that eventually floats through our tumultuous minds.

Perhaps this conflict is more internal than practical, but that tension – as they say in Holocracy – has always been there. 

-A manager leaves the company

-The company offers Anna this position

-She has always wanted to be an expert in another sector. She has another career ambition.

-Anna is happy with the offer. It’s a good salary.

-Anna freezes her ambition because the company has designed another scenario. Anna gives up what she most identifies with because the company has another commercial interest.

In this scenario, I could:

-Defend the advantages of the vacancy, enthusiastically communicate the promotion, and ignore that I know Anna has another career ambition. If Anna brings it up, I could quickly get around it, after all, it’s an opportunity that the company is giving, so enjoy it!

or

-Defend the advantages of the vacancy and enthusiastically communicate the possibility of Anna’s promotion and salary increase. Covering all decision points, facilitating the visual analysis of Anna’s professional trajectory, her current possibilities and the hypothetical scenario where she would accept the offer, thus facilitating her clarity and decision. And then, Anna has the option of not accepting or still negotiating.

In this scenario, I don’t take sides. I change the “OR” to “AND“.

What usually happens is that HR protects the interests of the company. After all, I am not a career coach at the company.

The second position is more congruent with what I always believed because as I always say, our career comes before our current position. However, our interests change, and sometimes the world shows us another path. But it’s not about choosing between planning and adapting, there is no quick and easy answer to multifaceted scenarios, like career and life situations.

It is important to say that for most people in the job market it is a privilege to have options in their careers or even aspire to a different position, unfortunately. This conversation is not possible for everyone in a company, much less for most. In this typical scenario, all the offers given by the company are “opportunities”, almost like a gift that we should be grateful for and value. In some realities we can look for possibilities, in others, we have to build almost from scratch the chances to have these career options.

Understanding the answer to this question was simpler than I thought. Maybe because I had never consciously thought about the question. I shouldn’t have to prefer one side and “play against” the other. I should manage this organizational paradox. It doesn’t have to be contradictory for me to be genuinely interested in the careers of people within a company while preserving the organization’s business interests. I don’t have to choose, I can have both.

It was curious that, in learning to manage this paradox, I allowed myself to open up to doing this exercise in many other aspects of my life. By harmonizing opposites and ambiguity, I don’t need to abandon one side and decide on another. Instead, I seek connection: what do these ideas have in common?

“The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless yet be determined to make them otherwise.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Today I feel that this clarity makes me more transparent in terms of expectations, for both sides.

Question 2 – How to create a working system (my routine) for me that brings me results, health, and satisfaction;

Self-perception made me realize that I need structure and order to understand and be able to process tasks and learning. 

I need to feel my feet on the ground.

Before, I found myself following other people’s schedules, starting projects without finishing, feeling bored and then jumping to another activity without understanding why and mainly, working without respecting my energy level. In reality, it’s not that I didn’t understand, I didn’t even know what I should understand, just like the previous question, there wasn’t even a question to be answered.

I could create a working system that:

  • respects my energy level: I can get the most out of my creativity and disposition;
  • starts and ends my day intuitively, not as vague as it once was
  • ensures that I see everything that is important and “saves” my attention on what is a priority;
  • provides clarity about my expectations and consequently better manages others’ expectations of my work;
  • allows me to dream big! Having big dreams and achievable goals, simply because today I can have consistency;
  • last but not least: I never had a good memory, and I get involved a lot in the projects I propose. So I need a system which works for me, protecting me from distractions and supporting my activities, I no longer need to spend energy remembering and searching for what I need.

What gave me these answers? I delved deeper into the study of productivity and self-awareness about how my body and mind work. This involves many topics such as the GTD method, Notion, Google Calendar, circadian cycle, sleep hygiene, how to plan, organize and execute better, reflecting on my physical environment, etc. Productivity is a combination of elements that, when you look at it intentionally, you can notice many factors that influence your performance.

Question 3 – What do I best deliver to the world with ease and pleasure?

This question led me to one of the characteristics I most admire in people, brands, and projects: authenticity. Looking inward is like a muscle, a habit that, when it starts, turns into an attitude towards life.

Internal, intangible, and subjective. My values. My edge, my limits.

The quest for a more authentic life is the search to be comfortable in our own skin. Feel free to be who we are in essence. That means boosting and illuminating our potential and dancing and playing with our incompleteness.

On this path of self-discovery, I realized that this journey is an eternal process of discovering and building at the same time. Maybe we’ll never know if we found ourselves or built ourselves. It is an ambidextrous process.

All this to be able to speak no more calmly for proposals and projects. In an optimistic mind, with a thousand different ideas bubbling up, having this “edge”, makes me a faster and more accurate decision-maker.

A good starting point was looking for the common points in these questions:

  • What we like to do
  • What we are good at
  • What the world needs

As well as other career questions, I believe that the common denominator of these answers is to be written in pencil. After all, while I find myself, I also build myself, it is a lifelong process. And of course, the world evolves too. 

Obs. This post refers to a personal experience and not advice. Each experience and reality is unique and should not be a comparison parameter just to inspire other points of view. 

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