Culture, Covid & Trust

Many companies are in the throes of deciding how, when, and if they should bring staff back to offices they abandoned over a year ago.  One of the concerns is how this will impact organizational culture, so let’s take a quick look at organizational culture – what it is and why it’s important.

One popular definition of organizational culture is ‘the way we do things around here.’  That sounds easy enough until we look at all the things we do, individually and collectively, in the organization.  When we peel back the layers of what we do every day, we find the values, beliefs, and assumptions that form the foundation of the organization. 

All companies have values, usually posted on the walls and website.  A little deeper are the beliefs, what members of the organization actually believe about how the organization operates.  Below that are the assumptions, the taken for granted expectations of how things work.  These are the building blocks of your culture.  If these were solid before Covid, you’re in good shape now.  Why? 

Because organizational culture is really hard to change.  If your remote staff has been getting their jobs done at least as well as they did in the office, your culture is probably alive and well.  And if you’ve been managing your remote workforce well, your culture may have improved because you learned to trust them.

People like to be trusted, and most managers have had to trust their remote staff, whether they liked it or not.  There are more decision points in bringing staff back to the office than we have time for here, but don’t ignore the trust you developed in your people to get their jobs done, whether they have a formal office at home or worked on the kitchen table.  They earned your trust and they kept the company going.  When you bring them back, repay that trust by continuing to treat them as the trusted employees that you did when you couldn’t see them.

Paul Shank

Author – Can Healthcare Get Better?

Culture Change and the Power of Frontline Staff