Shaping and supporting a clearly defined culture is some of the hardest work any
organization can take on, but it’s also the most important. What makes it so tough is
that it’s less finite and more subjective than most of the work we do. What makes
culture so important is that it’s unique; it’s something that no one can copy.
Your company can have great strategies, ready access to capital and terrific people,
but turning these and your other assets into results depends ultimately on a strong
culture that enables your employees to perform at their fullest. Culture touches and
influences every function in an organization, from research and development to
manufacturing to sales. Get it right and culture
can transform your company’s performance
and help sustain success for years to come.
Culture can become your competitive
advantage. Get it wrong and you’ll pay dearly
for it … for years to come.
That’s why when we set the company’s
business imperatives a few years ago, we put
culture at the core of everything we were doing
to transform our approach to research and
development, how we used our capital
resources and the work we undertook to build our reputation. Since then, we have
worked continuously to firmly establish what we call an “ownership” culture across the
company.
While this overarching culture guides the decisions we make and our behaviors every
day, we also take time to pause and celebrate our culture. For the second year in a
row we stepped away from our regular jobs for a day to celebrate and reinforce our
commitment to our OWNIT! culture. I challenged Pfizer’s leaders to recognize that they
can only own the future if they own change and can make change work for us,
not against us. Throughout the day leaders across the business held workshops with
colleagues to talk about how they can become more resilient when dealing with
change.
As a result of these events and day-to-day reinforcements, Pfizer colleagues
understand that our ownership culture can differentiate us within our industry. They
also understand it requires a willingness to take prudent risks, be accountable for their
decisions and results, and understand how their work contributes to the company’s
performance.
Front-Line Managers Critical
As my recognition of the importance of culture has grown, I have also come to
understand that while people join a company because of its purpose, they
often leave because of its culture. And the company’s culture is embodied most
prominently by the employee’s manager. So, first- and second-line managers are the
critical links in bringing a company’s culture to life. At Pfizer, these front-line managers
strongly influence the day-to-day working environment of about 80 percent of
colleagues. Their influence is enormous.
The pace and constancy of change in and around our business make front-line
managers essential in shaping the culture we need to succeed. They shape our future
success by developing in their colleagues the passion, attitudes, and behaviors that
empower them to act with the speed, agility and commitment to owning their results.
Ownership Requires Trust
Given their influence, managers' effectiveness is gated by the level of trust they
establish in those who report to them. This trust is essential to providing the space
employees need to work, take considered risks and own their results. It’s essential to
creating a culture of ownership and true accountability. Equally important, colleagues
need to trust in their managers in order to collaborate at the levels demanded by the
complex challenges we face. It’s difficult to work for a manager who doesn’t trust you,
but it’s impossible to work for a manager who you don’t trust.
This is one of the major reasons people leave companies: managers who create
distrust by failing to embody the cultural characteristics that should define the
organization, by saying one thing and doing another.
By clearly defining the behaviors that comprise the culture you envision, effectively
engaging your front-line managers and fostering an environment built on trust, culture
can become one of your organization’s greatest competitive advantages.
Shape your company’s culture and you will shape your company’s future.