Fireside Chat with Roger Steare; How Ethical Decision Making Can Transform Workplace Culture

We were thrilled to welcome Roger Steare to PeopleClear as a collaborator and adviser back in December last year. With a sharpened focus on positive culture, Roger’s expertise in ethics, culture and values-based leadership gives us a unique insight we are keen to explore. With this in mind, our CEO, Andrew Pullman, sat down with Roger for a fireside chat on how ethical decision making can transform workplace culture. Here are some of the key takeaways from their chat.

Positive culture makes business sense

It’s easy to see why positive culture is good for employees and makes going to work a much more pleasurable experience. But culture is also linked to business success. Roger explains that organisations with a positive culture show higher profitability and productivity, with research from Fortune 100 best companies to work for showing strong cultures delivering huge 495% higher cumulative returns and a 21% increase in profitability.

Having an environment in which people thrive through positive treatment and encouragement not only helps them to grow and develop in their own careers but also helps to drive business growth.

What can undermine workplace culture?

Historically many companies have functioned on hierarchical and/or fear-based structures which slows down decision-making and squashes innovation. Whereas, with agreed parameters and a good risk management profile, companies can give staff autonomy to make decisions. Putting barriers to decision making in place can lead to loss of productivity as staff wait for decisions from higher up the chain and can be demotivating for employees. Andrew agrees and says “managers need to be there to help support their people, and take obstacles out of the way rather than just looking back over the last 12 months and dwelling on what went wrong.”

A very short-term focus can also hinder business growth. By zoning in on things like quarterly reports rather than holistically looking at the bigger picture we can miss opportunities and in the long run this approach is not sustainable for a business.

Over-reliance on being compliant can stop staff from making morally-correct decisions. Obviously, organisations need rules and policies in place for staff to follow but it’s also important for staff to feel safe to question these at times. When things go out of date or unique circumstances come into play, we need work environments where staff are encouraged to do the right things for the right reasons rather than simply following the rules for compliance sake.

All of this really comes down to trust and empowerment of staff where employees are able to focus on their productivity and contribution rather than self- preservation.

What makes a strong workplace culture

Roger has over 20 years’ experience working with organisations on workplace culture, ethics and decision making, so Andrew was keen to hear his thoughts on what indicates a strong workplace culture. Roger felt like these were some of the key indicators:

• Leaders chosen for their moral character and prioritising ethical decision making;
• Employees given autonomy and are trusted and empowered to make decisions;
• Decision making based on ethics and principles, not solely rule-following or compliance;
• Purpose-driven and factoring in the wider societal implications of the organisation;
• Open and constructive dialogue within teams and the wider organisation.

Watch the full video of Andrew and Roger’s chat:

Alternatively, take a look at these video clips where we’ve broken down the key takeaways from their chat for you:

Are you making morally reasoned decisions?

What does good culture look like?

The importance of values-based decision making

Understanding workplace culture

Positive organisational culture = business success

At PeopleClear, we are uniquely placed to help you understand the new regulations around culture and how they can impact your organisation. We can support you with consultancy, training and solutions which will drive positive culture and compliance with the new regulations in your workplace.

Contact us for more information and a pragmatic solution today.