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gave feedback. A trail hike in the Swiss mountains put senior executives under stress. Both were really useful in seeing good teamwork as well as who wasn’t supporting colleagues. You then have to consider that senior managers might also be unsupportive of their own team members and that would negatively affect the culture. The sessions helped us see how we can develop the way senior managers think and act.”


Debbie Beaven


For Tucker, it’s a question of nurturing internal brand ambassadors. He said: “I like to have someone in each of our teams who, if you cut them, would bleed Naturetrek. They act as mentors, can sort out problems quickly, and communicate to colleagues what we’re doing so they are kept up to date.”


Lashmar said Ageas Bowl applies a familiar management style to make sure staff are kept up to date. He said: “We’ve always believed in ‘managing by wandering around’, face-to-face communication is essential. It keeps our finger on the pulse and we’re still small enough to be able to do that. As a director, that’s a key way in finding out what’s going on at the coal face, and it helps you spot things earlier.”


Anthony Reed


Clipston added: “It’s my responsibility as a leader to say if someone is doing something wrong. That can be a difficult thing to communicate, but you can pick up on issues if you are a walking around and in regular contact with your people.”


Mike Lashmar


Loveless said Import Services had a similar ‘open door’ policy. “We have had to find different solutions to managing our culture, especially with about half our staff non-UK residents. We have to be sensitive. For some people, their own culture is not to criticise management, so they won’t ask questions at open forums. We have to find ways to engage with them informally, because it’s critical we hear their views. I think being sensitive to personal cultures generates greater respect for your business culture. Our approach appears to be working – our first survey on how employees were feeling had a 40% response rate; that’s now up to about 80%.”


How culture influences recruitment


Mark Gawthorne


Wood: “People go online and check out your business on your website and social media before they apply. That’s why a lot of tech companies invest in making their websites look cool. But there can be an expectation gap – a difference between what you say you are and what you actually are.”


Gawthorne: “We carry out social audits 72 businessmag.co.uk


that tell us what people like and don’t like about us. If you want to attract talent then your marketing and HR departments should work together, so you use marketing expertise in your recruitment.”


Reed agreed: “Your message has to be believed, it has to be authentic. And you also have to believe it yourself, or else you are being counter-productive.”


A good culture empowers people


Gawthorne: “You can be happy at work but lack motivation. Sometimes your culture needs to feature both a carrot and a stick dependent on the teams need, so people can see there is something at the end to reward their effort and commitment.”


Irwin Mitchell aims to provide employee motivation by matching job roles to people with the most relevant skills. Clipston said: “We have tried to move away from having one job description for a role saying ‘this is what you do’. Instead, we try to look more carefully at what people like doing and what they are good at. We tailor our roles to our people, without ignoring development areas. That way, it’s easier to get the motivation and it also encourages greater diversity at the firm.”


There’s a similar emphasis on career mobility at Import Services, said Loveless: “For us, motivation is about demonstrating mobility for people in their career. They can see they are at a certain level and feel they can become more senior. The manager at our largest site, who is responsible for 200 people, started as a forklift driver. The takeaway for people is massive; they can see what is possible. It gives me a lot of satisfaction seeing these people grow in the business and they are great role models for us.”


HSBC offers flexibility to maintain motivation in its workforce. Reed said: “We have many talented people who have different working patterns and who can bring much to our culture. We have to be open about finding out what motivates them and what flexibility we need to attract and retain them.”


A culture of stress?


The group agreed that a workplace culture that doesn’t adapt to address modern pressures, such as stress, inevitably becomes weaker and less effective.


Loveless: “We’ve invested in health, safety and wellbeing initiatives. We run a stress awareness programme that has helped improve things. It’s more cost effective to deal with a problem before it leads to staff absences.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – JULY/AUGUST 2018


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