Thanks Bruce. While the BBC article you referenced highlights issues at the executive level, I feel it’s important to add some balance based on recent, firsthand insight.
We recently conducted an extensive 'listening phase' for an employer brand programme at Co-op, meeting with colleagues from across the business to get an unvarnished view of the culture.
In my experience, if a culture is truly toxic, those red flags surface almost immediately in a research setting. That simply wasn’t the case here. While employees were open about the typical challenges of the grocery retail sector, the overwhelming majority spoke positively and passionately about their day-to-day work environment and their colleagues.
The BBC report focuses on the boardroom, but my time with Co-op suggests that this 'toxic' label doesn’t reflect the lived experience of the thousands of people who actually power the business.
I’ve been slowly drafting a post about toxic cultures in charities specifically. There’s so much scope for poor behaviour being excused because of the context. The concept of moral licensing helps explain some of it. But it feels like more going on, which may be to do with rigid adherence to hierarchical systems - not just internal ones, but having to navigate them externally too: the power dynamics of asking rich people and foundations to give, perhaps trickle into standard practice.
Thanks Bruce! I love it! If anyone decides to geek out further on the aviation disasters bit, Jan Hagen's book "Confronting Mistakes" is an excellent way in.
Thanks Bruce. While the BBC article you referenced highlights issues at the executive level, I feel it’s important to add some balance based on recent, firsthand insight.
We recently conducted an extensive 'listening phase' for an employer brand programme at Co-op, meeting with colleagues from across the business to get an unvarnished view of the culture.
In my experience, if a culture is truly toxic, those red flags surface almost immediately in a research setting. That simply wasn’t the case here. While employees were open about the typical challenges of the grocery retail sector, the overwhelming majority spoke positively and passionately about their day-to-day work environment and their colleagues.
The BBC report focuses on the boardroom, but my time with Co-op suggests that this 'toxic' label doesn’t reflect the lived experience of the thousands of people who actually power the business.
John Finemore covered the confidence training in his comedy Cabin Preasure https://youtu.be/Me_qte-oSDE?si=7PNhCvS33NUG6OG8&t=35
Insecurity plays a large role, and unconscious beliefs that drive human behavior.
I’ve been slowly drafting a post about toxic cultures in charities specifically. There’s so much scope for poor behaviour being excused because of the context. The concept of moral licensing helps explain some of it. But it feels like more going on, which may be to do with rigid adherence to hierarchical systems - not just internal ones, but having to navigate them externally too: the power dynamics of asking rich people and foundations to give, perhaps trickle into standard practice.
Thanks Bruce! I love it! If anyone decides to geek out further on the aviation disasters bit, Jan Hagen's book "Confronting Mistakes" is an excellent way in.