The problem with a lot of the conversation around culture and EX right now, is that too often it’s murky and ill-defined. The murkier things get, the harder it is to understand the real issues and do anything about them.
When we work on EX and culture, we separate the two. Only by identifying and examining them both, can you really understand what’s going on. According to my son’s GCSE biology revision guide, this is resolution: the ability to see two objects as distinct.
So let’s be clear. Culture is environment and context. Experience is the feelings people have as a result of what they see and hear – and the meaning they give to those feelings.
Of course, both influence each other, but they are not the same.
“Culture is the soup in which EX swims,” as Dana Wright-Wasson says in Talk the Walk: Designing a Clear Path to a World Class Employee Experience.
If you want to up the resolution and look at them separately, here’s how to get started (you can find out more at our Creating a Compelling Employee Experience Workshop on November 12th 2019, in London).
Step one: Look below the surface to understand your culture
The most commonly cited definition of culture that I hear is: “How things get done around here”. It’s nice and simple. The problem is, it only describes the things you can see, hear and smell. What you might observe when you walk into an office – the behaviours.
Culture is more than that. It’s also the structures and processes that determine how work gets done. Structures and processes that, like behaviours, can be seen and examined. Workflows, performance management, interview questions and so much more are all part of your cultural make-up.
But it’s more than that too. Think of culture like personality. A personality isn’t just what we do (ie the visible stuff), it’s all the many reasons we do it. Reasons we have framed and reframed for ourselves multiple times over the years and are often buried or even forgotten.
If you want to understand these hidden assumptions and beliefs, you can’t just ask questions. You need to find different techniques to reveal the truth that’s buried within the system. Organisational Relationship and Systems Coaching (ORSC) has some unique ways to reveal hidden cultural truths. Dreams, myths and ghosts are just some of the starting points for this exploration – it’s different and revealing. I highly recommend you find out more.
But there are other ways to make sense of what is, in many ways the actual essence of culture. What do you do and what hidden truths has it revealed?
Step two. Look inside employee journeys to find the real moments that matter
When we’re talking about EX, what we’re talking about is feelings. The feelings people have as a result of the things they see and hear. From feelings we create meaning, and from meaning we create belief.
If you want to understand the EX you’re creating, then you need to look at the bits of the employee journey that matter most to people. The moments that matter. They might not be what you expect. Moments that matter are as likely to be about someone getting divorced, moving house or having a first baby, as they are about a first day, a pay rise or a promotion.
So start with your people and what matters to them. And listen to their stories and the feelings they have around those moments that matter. Start with empathy.
If you’d like to know more about how to understand how your culture is impacting your EX and what to do about it, sign up for our Creating a Compelling Employee Experience Workshop on November 12th 2019 in London.
