INSIGHTS KATHY CATTON
What's it like around here? Culture is the character and personality of an organisation. It’s what makes the business unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviours and attitudes. Kathy Catton takes a closer look at the culture of two New Zealand organisations, and asks what factors can affect workplace culture.
people do and inform how they operate day to day.
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#Human – Xeros are authentic, inclusive and really care.
e are all aware that positive workplace culture attracts talent, drives engagement and affects happiness, satisfaction and performance. The Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) and Xero are two organisations that know this at their core. They understand that leadership, management, workplace practices, policies and more, all impact on the organisation’s culture. And, for these reasons, these organisations have sought to define the culture first rather than letting it evolve naturally. Xero describes itself as a valuesdriven organisation. From the early days of doing business (the company was founded in 2006), it has had a clear set of values in place. These values permeate everything the 30
HUMAN RESOURCES
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Xero’s values: #Challenge – Xeros dream big, lead and embrace change. #Beautiful – Xeros create experiences that people love. #Team – Xeros are great team players. #Ownership – Xeros deliver on our commitments.
“You’ll hear Xeros use these values day to day, in their language and in their work,” says Rob Munro, Head of People Experience NZ at Xero. “They’re discussed regularly and are used to recognise excellent work and celebrate achievements. But more importantly, they are visible in the way people treat each other – at all levels – and we ensure our values aren’t put to one side when business decisions are made.” It’s the all-encompassing nature of the values that makes it easy for employees to find meaning and consistency in what they do.
This was of critical importance throughout the first COVID-19 experience, with the business’s response being driven from the inside out, focused on the people, particularly the #human value. Rob explains more. “If we look after our Xeros, I know they will do everything they can to look after our customers and our business during this unprecedented time. This #human approach meant that we took early action across all our regions and moved to remote working in advance of any government-mandated lockdowns, to ensure the health and safety of our people.”
We ensure our values aren’t put to one side when business decisions are made. Xero wanted to make sure everyone understood the situation. The CEO and Executive Team became more accessible than ever, and communications from them increased substantially. There were companywide online meetings, regular emails, videos and Slack messages from the CEO and Executive Team and regular targeted surveys of staff, looking at how connected, motivated, productive and supported the people were feeling.
