Yes, I use Uber. It’s useful, it’s convenient, and it works well for me. No complaints there. But today, such an innovative company is in news for all the bad reasons.
David Bonderman, an Uber board member, has resigned from the board of the company after he made a sexist remark about women at a meeting. The CEO, Travis Kalanick, has taken a leave of absence. All this has happened close on heels of the report submitted by US Attorney Eric Holder about the company’s culture. Eric’s probe found the culture at Uber to be toxic where sexual harassment is overlooked and those who report the problems suffer bullying and retaliation.
The company, which is Silicon Valley’s biggest success stories, had always been talking about being “obsessed” with the customer, “always be hustlin’”, and talking about “meritocracy”. Unfortunately, none of these great things are being associated with Uber today. The ONE thing which has gone majorly wrong here is – Company Culture.
Travis, the CEO, very rightly, has taken the full responsibility of the current situation of the company.
"The ultimate responsibility, for where we've gotten and how we've gotten here rests on my shoulders," says Travis in his statement, which he released to announce his time off.
Why do we need to discuss organizational culture?
Examples like these (yet again) prove the importance and relevance of the right company culture. It does not come as a surprise that even several research and studies show that a company's culture is one of the top five reasons for someone to consider working there.
It is the main factor too on which employees can be retained. After all, who wouldn't want to work where their opinions are valued, they are treated with respect, and teamwork is highly encouraged. Organizational culture also involves how companies deal with their clients as well as other vendors and suppliers.
It gives a complete picture of what the company stands for - its mission, vision, ideologies - everything that the company's leader professes. It is all about what the company wishes to focus upon for strengthening its internal and external image.
Who is responsible for it?
This brings me to the second most important aspect of organization culture which is understanding the people who can bring in the right culture in a company. First and foremost, it has to be and will be the leader. If the leader is confused, not sure about what kind of a team and behaviors she needs to develop to achieve the long term goals, then building a culture is next to impossible. If the leader is creator of the culture, then HR is the protector of the same. HR head and personnel have to ensure that the culture is maintained, adhered to and violators are not tolerated.
Next in line are the managers and other senior employees who need to ensure that first they walk the talk before even think of monitoring and enforcing the junior members adhere to the company policies. However, we need to remember that they will mostly be following the path set by the seniors and that's why the top bosses majorly remain responsible.
There can be times when the single behavior of an employee can spoil the entire team culture. There are people who bring in negative attributes in the workplace such as jealousy, competition, unsupportive opinions, and so on. Even managers may spoil a good culture by constantly criticizing the team members or by always providing negative feedback. Such kind of behavior contributes to lower team confidence and spirit. It once again then comes back to the head of the company to see to it that a certain ethos is maintained.
John Stumpf, Wells Fargo's former Chairman and CEO, is a classic example how a leader should not lead his or her organization. He was extremely bad at handling the fallout of the bank’ account scandal. He not only denied that it was because of the bank's culture that it had 2 million credit card and deposit accounts opened without permission, but he also went on to blame his employees who had been fired!
Organizational Culture and Leadership
As I mentioned earlier, the leader is the voice of the company and hence, plays a huge role in shaping the company culture. One very good example of this is Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba. Apparently, if you ask him what he is busy with, he answers, "Building the vision and the values and the culture". That's the kind of influence business leaders have on their companies and the team morale. In fact, it is the job of the leader not just to provide a direction to the team but also correct anyone who is deviating from the set ideal working path.
Monitoring the employees' performance on following the code and conduct is as crucial as any other given tasks. I say this because organizational culture is never built in one day. It's an ongoing process which needs to be nurtured patiently every single day. I would recommend reading Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar Schein for more on this. It's a good book because it combines research with contemporary business practices so we can get ideas on how to design the culture of our own company.
On that note, do share with me any pointers if you have for budding entrepreneurs who are keen on building a solid culture in their company. After all, it is the foundation on which a business can succeed.