Employees’ feedback is often the best barometer to measure any organization’s culture. Competitor threats or market opportunities can best be tackled when the insiders speak out on things that truly matter. Unfortunately for several companies, employees often remain silent. There may be two broad reasons for this. One is out of the personality perspective. This implies that the employees may themselves have a particularly reserved or shy nature, that prevents them from speaking out. The other is the situational perspective. The onus in this case is on the company. This happens when the employees perceive the company’s talent work environment to not be conducive enough to voice out their views. These two factors may both be prevalent simultaneously, but it is the latter that is more harmful. Once the talent management systems of the company be sorted, the former may automatically solve itself.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/11/if-your-employees-arent-speaking-up-blame-company-culture

Uploaded Date:26 February 2019

A common reason behind the failure of several mergers is the lack of cultural compatibility between the parties. A good example for this could be the acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon. The good news is that when diagnosed early, some symptoms may be rectified to lead towards improved cultural compatibility. First of all, post a merger or acquisition, both the companies must be flexible to the ideaof negotiating their work cultures. They must not be fixated to their existing one. A prenuptial agreement can be set in motion, as it worked very well between Disney and Pixar. The latter’s talent management system gave more flexibility but was also a bit loose, which the former being the larger entity, had to formalize a bit more. Trial and error needs to be embraced, as there will be newer norms setting in post the merger. The team members in both the organizations need to be informed of the changes. Their views also need to be taken in at a macro level.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/10/one-reason-mergers-fail-the-two-cultures-arent-compatible

Uploaded Date:06 February 2019

Open secrets are those which are known by a number of members in a team, yet no one is willing to bring this into wider recognition. This happens when an increasing number of frontline members come to know of something, but this sheer number leads to a bystander effect. This is the effect where each one expects the other to act, instead of themselves taking the lead. A diffusion in responsibility occurs, in sharp contrast to a situation where only a single person is in the know. A clear example of this is the scandal involving media tycoon Harvey Weinstein. This bystander effect takes place in organizations with a strong ‘passing the buck’ culture. So, managers need to get this conveyed to their employees that the business intelligence brought out by any level of employee is crucial, regarding any relevant aspect to the work.

Source:https://hbr.org/2019/01/why-open-secrets-exist-in-organizations

Uploaded Date:02.February 2019

A recent study by the CMO Council, reports that in spite of much talk by marketers, about a customer- centric culture, less than a seventh of them surveyed, consider their organization’s culture to be so. A few steps need to be followed by companies that intend to build a customer- centric system there. Firstly, one needs to operationalize customer empathy. The talent recruitment done, needs to be with a focus on people with an inherent customer orientation. Organizations will need to understand that capturing business intelligence on customers need not be the prerogative of a central system alone. Instead, the frontline needs to be empowered so insights gained, can be instantly relayed up the system. Even the top executives and the middle management needs to periodically interact first- hand with customers, to get a grip on their needs and requirements. The employee culture at the firm needs to be aligned with the customer outcomes. Even the compensation needs to be tied up with the customer feedback and interaction.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/10/6-ways-to-build-a-customer-centric-culture?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Uploaded Date:25 January 2019