Building a culture of cultures to drive performance?
“ The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it's to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel that they're valued. ”
Ken Robinson
For John Spense, the American management guru, (T + C + EFC) * DE = Success! (Talents plus Culture plus Extreme Focus on the Client) multiplied by Disciplined Execution leads to business success. Consequently, to thrive, talent must find a corporate culture that allows them to grow and express their potential.
We have all experienced a company change — or simply a change of leader or Business Unit — that revealed the importance and diversity of cultures within the same organization. But what exactly is corporate culture?
The English anthropologist B. Taylor was the first to use the term “culture” in the 18th century. He defined it as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
The American anthropologist Robert Redfield defined culture as “an organized body of conventional understandings manifested in art and dependent upon tradition, which characterizes a human group.”
Characteristics of culture
Culture is social: it does not exist in isolation. It is a product of society, developing through social interaction.
Culture is shared: customs, traditions, beliefs, ideas, values, and morals are all shared among members of the same group.
Culture is learned: it is not innate but often referred to as “learned behavior.” Ways of greeting, saying thank you, or dressing are cultural behaviors.
Culture is transmitted: it is passed from one generation to the next, mainly through language, enabling the current generation to understand the achievements of the previous ones. Transmission happens through imitation or learning.
Culture is continuous and cumulative: it is an ongoing process that accumulates over time. Sociologist Linton defined culture as man’s “social heritage.”
Each society has its own culture: it differs from one society to another. BNP and Paribas had two distinct cultures before their merger, as did Fortis, even though their businesses looked quite similar from the outside.
Culture is dynamic: subject to slow but constant change, sensitive to shifts in the surrounding world.
Culture is rewarding: it contributes to the satisfaction of our needs and desires.
Culture can be compared to an iceberg: part of it is visible, but a large part remains unseen — such as the interpretations of promotions, pay rises/bonuses, or what top management values or penalizes (inappropriate behavior, harassment, burnout…). Also included is interpersonal communication style, which can be confrontational in some companies and nurturing in others.
Two generic styles of culture in large organizations
Monoculture with minimal variations, as seen in major American franchises, where customers expect to find nearly the same product and service everywhere in the world (with slight adjustments to the local environment).
Culture of cultures, which emphasizes adaptation to specific businesses or environments.
Most of the time, companies born from mergers have had to integrate different cultures, adjusting their existing one to avoid losing key talent and skills, transforming it into a culture of cultures. BNP Paribas is the result of merging two distinct cultures: BNP and Paribas. Its success lies in making these two cultures coexist by defining what unites them — which is still a key strength today.
The CEO of Accenture also stresses the concept of a culture of cultures after numerous recent acquisitions. The group rapidly gained new expertise, differentiated itself, and fueled its growth to over 450,000 employees worldwide, particularly in new technology-related fields. The company’s strategy has been to preserve Accenture’s original culture while also valuing those of the newcomers — so that the sum of all these cultures exceeds that of each one individually. By celebrating every culture, and thus diversity, the company retains its wealth derived from different talents and backgrounds.
To succeed with a culture of cultures, the crucial step is to define the common foundation — non-negotiable values such as ethics, inclusion, performance, managerial values, or meritocracy.
For example, a company may choose to implement forms of affirmative action as a path toward future equality. Indeed, how can one evaluate a woman’s leadership style if all leaders are men? “Impossible!” said one of my clients, who decided to enforce a quota of women in every promotion round. Once enough women are represented in decision-making bodies, non-discrimination can again become the rule.
The HR function and culture
In this context, one of HR’s roles is to identify and define, with the leadership, the desired culture, and then support the change. HR must in particular ensure that both promotion criteria and sanctions are applied consistently — beyond just business results (for example, overriding a manager’s good financial results if their behavior contradicts company values).
As guardian of the company’s value base, HR has real authority over bonuses: at one of my clients, HR can veto the entire bonus allocation; at another, HR can sanction even top performers with a formal warning — the last before dismissal. Paradoxically, these same companies also provide coaching for such employees, giving them another chance while retaining top talent.
Linking part of the bonus to 360° or 180° feedback is another way of ensuring accountability, and Toyota goes very far in this direction to strengthen collective behaviors.
Finally, since one of the risks of applying a culture of cultures is the creation of silos, HR’s role is also to facilitate mobility between business units and to strengthen cross-BU career programs.
As Pierre Nanterme put it: “In a world that has become multipolar, fragmented, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, leaders must manage highly unstable situations and understand very local needs.” This is why more and more multinationals are formalizing and accepting different cultures tailored to their various businesses and markets. However, to succeed, they must remain vigilant about ethics and values common to all these cultures!