Insights: 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.

We 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 people do and inform how they operate day to day.

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.

#Human – Xeros are authentic, inclusive and really care.

“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.

This influx in communication was one of the major learnings for Xero. “It was important to create forums and opportunities for people to communicate how they were feeling and what they needed,” says Rob. “We then had to ensure we were taking action by following up on what we were hearing from our people.”

The aim is that reward and recognition are vital ingredients of our business.

LIC shares this need for communication. Having a strong sense of community and connection, all LIC employees work with the farmer in mind, as part of the cooperative identity and strong history of LIC. So keeping those channels of communication open, through Slack channels, Q and A sessions and surveys, has been vital.

“Slack has been a brilliant tool for us,” says Roz Urbahn, Chief People Officer at LIC. “People use it for different purposes, from sending out articles to asking about how to go on an information diet! We have an unspoken rule that we don’t send each other tasks through Slack. As a result, it’s a relaxed, light-hearted way to keep talking and being authentic with how we are feeling.”

LIC’s communications focus has always been about telling the positive stories of the company and listening to its people. This didn’t change through the crisis of COVID, and leaders were expected to continue to tell their stories, listen to the people and take action appropriately.

“We made sure our leaders continued to be authentic and honest. We gave clear and direct information about expectations and communicated with set timeframes based on small chunks of time,” says Roz.

And the results show that these types of actions do make a difference. LIC has been conducting annual organisational health surveys, with results tracking positively since the beginning of 2015. In addition, the company uses an organisational health survey, again revealing a positive increase in total points year-on-year.

So what’s the difference that makes the difference? Roz remains adamant that providing a positive employee experience leads to a positive customer experience.

“We operate on a values-based leadership model,” she says. “We have multiple awards programmes that range from individual rewards to team-based Chief Executive Awards that are held twice yearly. The aim is that reward and recognition are vital ingredients of our business.”

Both organisations appear to have exemplary cultures. People want to work there and have a sense of purpose in their work. Leaders know LIC’s vision, what to celebrate and recognise and how to positively interact with employees. In addition, the stable strategy is widely communicated, continuously emphasised and inspiring for employees.

And what about the work environment? Does it really matter what offices look like and what hangs on the walls?

Xero responds with a resounding ‘yes’. It even has a team dedicated to this area.

“We have an incredible Workplace Experience team who are focused on delivering a beautiful office experience,” says Rob. “Our physical work environments are designed to support our culture by creating spaces that encourage collaboration and are enjoyable to spend time in.”

Rob is quick to point out, however, that although the office environments support the culture, the culture is defined by the values. This maintains a steadiness with the business, despite rapid growth, several office moves and a period of prolonged working from home.

Roz at LIC agrees. “It’s the relationships within the work environment that matter the most. The

work environment plays a significant role. We have shown that we can adapt to flexible ways of working with a distributed workforce. The relationships were what enabled that to happen so easily.”

If we look after our Xeros, I know they will do everything they can to look after our customers and our business.

The message remains clear: look after your people through a positive workplace culture and your people will look after your business. Recent times have shown us that workplace culture is always changing. And some might argue it’s just as important as your business strategy, given the belief that culture eats strategy for breakfast! So it’s well worth continually evaluating and improving the culture, and learning from others to ensure a successful and happy business for all.

What affects culture in the workplace?

• Leadership

• Management

• Workplace practices

• Policies and procedures

• Mission, vision and values

• Work environment

• Communications

• Recruitment