What Does Your X Department Say About Your Culture and Company

Last week, I had lunch with two colleagues who are Human Resources consultants. They shared their hypothesis that the culture of an organization can be summarized by the ‘health’ of the company’s HR (Human Resources) office. Boom! Now that’s a powerful statement. As they shared more of their reasoning, I started to mentally scroll through my client base, and…my observations of my clients’ HR Offices aligned with their thinking. My clients with strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive HR directors and offices, had stronger, more strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive organizations.

My clients with strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive HR directors and offices, had stronger, more strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive organizations.

Now am I or are they suggesting that HR is to blame or the reason organizations have poor or amazing cultures? Absolutely not. However, what they were theorizing and what I am highlighting is the HR director and their team play an essential and pivotal role in driving and shaping culture. That’s not news but it is important to note.

What is even more important to note, is that it’s not just HR that drives an organization’s effectiveness, success, and culture. Operations, Marketing, Finance, Logistics, IT, and every other department and leader are also contributors. Because of that, these leaders need to be keenly aware of how their leadership of their department impacts the effectiveness, success, and culture of the entire organization. Do you and will they think this is pretty basic? It is. But it’s also incredibly important.

Operations, Marketing, Finance, Logistics, IT, and every other department and leader are also contributors to your company’s effectiveness, success, and culture.

To see how important and telling it is, just take three minutes and assess your own leadership team’s functional and collective effectiveness:

• Operations – How strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive is the director of this department? As a result, how does their team perform internally, externally, and with other departments?

• Marketing – How strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive is the director of this department? As a result, how does their team perform internally, externally, and with other departments?

• Finance – How strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive is the director of this department? As a result, how does their team perform internally, externally, and with other departments?

• Logistics – How strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive is the director of this department? As a result, how does their team perform internally, externally, and with other departments?

• IT – How strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive is the director of this department? As a result, how does their team perform internally, externally, and with other departments?

• Every Other Department and Team Leader – How strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive are they? As a result, how do their teams perform internally, externally, and with other departments?

Do ALL of your leaders have reputations for being strong, strategic, collaborative, communicative, and proactive? Yes? That’s amazing! Please share how you’re doing what you’re doing so well! However, if your answer is No, that’s more the norm, but that doesn’t mean you should accept it.

What you’ve just assessed for yourself is something you’ve already known, but hadn’t before looked at in the way you just did. You’ve known you’ve had less-than-stellar leadership in X department for the past 18 months. You’ve noticed their lack of critical or strategic thinking. You’ve noticed their inability to collaborate proactively or effectively with other departments. You’ve noticed their territorial behavior. You’ve noticed the number of complaints about their team members from other departments and customers. You’ve noticed all of it. Now it’s time to do something about it.

If you don’t, what does your leadership say about your company’s culture, your company, and… you.

Copyright MMXXIV – Liz Weber, CMC, CSP – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com +1.717.597.8890

Liz Weber is an advisor to boards of directors, business owners, and C-Suite leaders. She’s a leadership, strategic and succession planning consultant, speaker, and author. She helps her clients focus on the right things at the right times to get the right impact.