culture

Job Interviews - How to Spot Toxic Management

Toxic Management Tiger.jpg

"48% of managers hadn’t received any management training in the previous 12 months and 33% of companies did not offer any training at all."  How much does your business offer?

“Bad management can originate in a structure that does not allow better behaviour. A “toxic” manager is rarely alone in a company. They are tolerated by the organization, if not supported outright. These kinds of practices can be found at other levels within the organization, the bad manager being only one active piece of a harmful system.” - some executives protect employees and ostracize those who - in the best interests of the company - point out the damaging behaviour.

“to identify gangrenous companies, it is worth looking at staff turnover” - one of the reasons to work with executives understanding this & absenteeism early in acquisition assessment or turnarounds

https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/job-interviews-how-to-spot-toxic-management

High Trust Organizations, Innovation & Performance, Humour & Leadership

Trust Stage Dive.jpg

Maybe he’s floating

In most of the turnarounds / ramp ups I do one of the major cultural shifts that holds companies back is the blame environment they foster. Management has to replace their outdated toxic behaviour (& harassment lawsuit liability) to build an environment where all employees & staff are comfortable and encouraged to be open about problems and ideas. While to many this is common sense, executives do not always make the connection; here are some stats from a fast co. article (link below) quantifying performance results in firms with safe environments, and some of the psychology behind it:

  • There is a wealth of research that links high-trust organizations to innovation and performance. The 2016 HOW Report, a comprehensive study of organizational effectiveness, concluded that employees who work in high-trust environments are 32 times more likely to take risks that might benefit the company.

  • They’re also 11 times more likely to see more innovation relative to competition,

and 6 times more likely to outperform others in their industry.

 

  • managers perceived to have a sense of humor are rated by subordinates as 23% more respected and 25% more pleasant to work with.

  • In contrast, a 2018 Gallup study found that nearly 50% of Americans have left a job to “get away” from a manager. Employee turnover has increased 88% over the last decade, costing companies billions.

  • Reorienting towards humor is a fundamentally profitable enterprise that today’s leaders can’t afford to miss. One study found that adding a lighthearted line at the end of a sales pitch—like “my final offer is X, and I’ll throw in my pet frog”—increases customers’ willingness to pay by 18%. Another set of studies found that employees who rate their leaders as having a sense of humor—any sense of humor—are 15% more satisfied with their jobs and rate their leaders at 27% more motivating. A set of studies run by Brad Bitterly, Allison Wood Brooks, and Maurice Schweitzer demonstrate that when people use humor at work, they’re attributed 37% higher status, and seen as more competent and more confident.

  • We can chalk this up to the (brain) cocktail these teams are serving up. When people laugh, a neuro-chemical response is activated: their brains flood with dopamine (which increases happiness), endorphins (which increases resilience), and oxytocin (the same “trust hormone” released during sex and childbirth—plus a way to do it that’s more HR-friendly). These hormones make us feel calmer, more confident, and more resourceful—which lowers stress and unlocks more creative thinking.

Humor is such an important leadership trait we teach it at Stanford’s business school

As trust in authority figures erodes, teams want leaders who are inspiring and relatable.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90597762/humor-is-such-an-important-leadership-trait-we-teach-it-at-the-stanford-b-school

Human Error & Culture

10 min.
When pilots in the cockpit do not communicate openly and honestly and freely; you have problems.
In cultures where it is difficult for a subordinate to speak openly to a superior, you will have more plane crashes.
In hierarchical cultures (countries such as Asian nations, Korea being the example used here) this has been the case and they have had to come to terms with it to change this in the airline industry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBZcMQILVtc&feature=related