Are Organisational Values in Crisis?
The Potential Effects of Remote and Hybrid Working
With over a year of lockdowns in the UK many people have taken the opportunity to learn new skills, whether this is learning a new language or, perhaps more practically, learning to juggle work while surrounded by children/pets/‘insert distraction here’.
With the constant change of various enterprises opening and closing their doors, seemingly continuous flux in legislation and the weather swinging between hot and cold, it has been challenging to develop any kind of routine or semblance of ‘normal life’. People have taken to various video conferencing programmes, such as Zoom or MS Teams, both in a work and social capacity to try to maintain relationships – but most would acknowledge that this has been far from ideal…
Technology has allowed many of us to carry on working through the pandemic, but at what cost? Using technology for regular work interactions is set to continue, with more and more organisations opting for a Hybrid working model, so how can we balance the cost / reward that technology brings?
It’s the Stories that Connect us
As humans, one of the most effective ways in which we communicate is through stories. Stories are powerful tools that we use to connect and collaborate with others by sharing our perspective and thought processes. In a business setting, they form the backbone of culture. They allow us to make sense of the world, explain organisational values and help us to see alternative perspectives. The most effective and memorable stories are those that evoke emotion in others, trigger our imagination, convey real depth of meaning and allow us to find a commonality.
Technology has enabled us to continue to work collaboratively, but we have lost those impromptu conversations with colleagues, for example while making a coffee. It’s those unplanned moments that are most important for connecting with others both at work and in our personal lives. VC communications have to be planned, so we have to think more carefully about who we want to include in the conversations from the outset. Meetings conducted remotely seem to be more focused and direct, so leave limited time for storytelling or the more ‘exploratory’ thinking that powers innovation.
“Meetings conducted remotely seem to be more focused and direct, so leave limited time for storytelling or the more ‘exploratory’ thinking that powers innovation”.
Working remotely, we are less likely to hear about the full range of projects that colleagues are involved with – stories about their experience which may trigger us to conclude that they would bring useful insight to our own particular project. Certainly, for those who are less inclined to talk about their achievements, there is an even smaller chance that these experiences will make it into the (already) limited social conversation that occurs in some meetings.
A Virtual Blocker to Social Capital
In addition to the reduction in storytelling, there is an additional barrier for new joiners starting remotely. They have not had the same opportunity to build social capital pre-lockdown and we are unlikely to hear much about their work (unless we were directly involved in that project or other projects with that individual).
‘Social capital’ is the term used to describe interpersonal connections and relationships an individual may have developed. At work, social capital impacts an individuals’ sense of belonging, their sense of safety and has been linked to work performance in academic studies (1). If people have not had the opportunity to build social capital, then their network may be smaller, which may mean that the value they can add to a project is missed, as fewer people know about their particular strengths or experience.
“Historically in the office, meetings were perhaps more informal and inclusive which provided individuals with more developmental opportunities and reduced the possibility of groupthink”
For colleagues new and old, scheduled meetings are most commonly created for a specific purpose so, overall, individuals are not interacting with the same broad mix of people they might interact with in an office environment. The tendency for shorter, more efficient VC meetings means that often only a select group of people is invited to attend. Whereas historically in the office, meetings were perhaps more informal and inclusive which provided individuals with more developmental opportunities and reduced the possibility of groupthink. This style of working creates ‘in-groups’ and ‘out-groups’ which heightens feelings of isolation and reduces the sense of belonging individuals feel with the organisation as a whole.
Not just Writing on the Wall
Organisational values are much more than writing on the wall, or a list of behaviours publicised on a website. An organisations’ values create the culture of the organisation and set the tone for how individuals should conduct themselves at work. Additionally, organisational values differentiate the business from their competition and potentially determines whether two organisations will work well together.
If employees are not aligned with their organisation’s values, there is a risk that reputation and relationships could be damaged both within and externally to the organisation. On the other hand, strong alignment between the individual and the organisational values is associated with more engaged and productive employees (2, 3).
Do Values Fail to Live Remotely?
Many organisations recruit individuals who might naturally be drawn to behave in-line with the organisational values (and therefore already ‘fit in’ with and perpetuate the existing culture). However, the remote on-boarding process used by many over the last year falls short of bringing the values to life. While in some organisations new employees will receive written documentation listing the organisational values when they join, new employees at other organisations may not. Regardless of whether new employees receive confirmation of the organisation’s values when they join, it’s important to remember that if new employees are starting remotely they won’t walk past a wall reminding them of the organisational values multiple times a day. Unless the values are highlighted to new employees, and embodied remotely by existing employees, they may be unaware of what the values are.
Many organisations recruit individuals who might naturally be drawn to behave in-line with the organisational values (and therefore already ‘fit in’ with and perpetuate the existing culture). However, the remote on-boarding process used by many over the last year falls short of bringing the values to life…
This is then exacerbated as, while working remotely may limit individuals’ social interaction and the opportunities to hear about other projects within the wider business, there has also been a reduced opportunity for organisational core values to be reinforced socially during lockdown.
Technology has allowed us to keep working and interact with colleagues, but we are missing the subconscious cues that might come from simply being around others and observing how they behave.
Peer observation is a key component of reinforcing organisational values. For example, if you are working in your own space and only interacting with others on short, project focused calls, you might not hear about how ‘Sam’ dealt with a client problem with compassion and diligence (two of your organisational values) as you might have done if you were sat next to them in the office.
Furthermore, if ‘Sam’ had not had the opportunity to build social capital, there might be very few people that ‘Sam’ might tell about this problem, or indeed who would hear the full version (rather than the summarised version stating that there was a problem and they fixed it).
Embedding Values & Behaviours in a Hybrid Environment
Whilst organisational values have potentially taken a ‘hit’ over the pandemic, it’s not too late to avert a crisis.
Given that some form of remote working appears to be here to stay, how can leaders successfully embed values in this new hybrid environment?
Some tips to consider are:
- Review your organisational values, do they fit with the image you are trying to portray? Is there one particular value that doesn’t quite ‘sit right’ in your organisational culture? Consider using an outside perspective, such as OE Cam’s insight, help you objectively look at your organisational values.
- Use your organisational values within the onboarding process to recruit individuals who will naturally heighten your desired values.
- Keep reinforcing the organisational values for new and existing employees, for example use the values in regular work process such as performance management systems or criteria for promotions and/or rewards.
- Encourage employees to continue having, and make time for, regular check-ins or development meetings.
Behavioural ‘nudges’ could be used to remind employees of organisational values and encourage certain behaviours, regardless of whether people are working at home or in the office. Check out Mariam’s article ‘Embedding New Behaviours & Ways of Working’ or watch our webinar ‘Nudge, Sludge & Silent Comms’ to find out more about behavioural nudges and how OE Cam can help.
For more in-depth views into working remotely and the potential transition factors to consider when thinking about Hybrid check out Julie Brophy’s article ‘Hybrid Working: The Impact on Company Culture’ or OE Cam’s latest Journal: ‘Leading the Shift to Hybrid’. Articles included are ‘The Unintended Consequences of Hybrid Working’, ‘Clearing the Way: Decision Making in a Hybrid Working Environment’, ‘Building the ‘One Team’ Feeling in Hybrid Workforces’, ‘Me, Myself and my Screen: How working alone can fuel our self-limiting beliefs and what we, and leaders can do about it’ and ‘In the Room or Zoom? The Misinterpretation Trap’.
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