David S Cohen

For over 30 years, I have been studying and working with organizational cultures. One thing is sure there is no one definition of a great culture. Some companies with great cultures would be considered a disastrous place to work by other people. We have learned that creating and maintaining a great workplace culture follows a particular path. But the context of the course is as unique as the people working in the company. What are the characteristics of creating and maintaining what your employees consider a positive culture? What are the critical internal activities that drive employee commitment and passion which positively impact business outcomes? We will take a high-level look at some of the challenges that currently confuse understanding what defines corporate culture during this session. We will look at the impact when leaders ensure the company culture is maintained in the work-from-anyplace arrangement. This interactive presentation will focus on the critical outcomes of having a workplace culture built and sustained by living the authentic values of your organization. Learning outcomes How to build trust and respect enable workplace agility and productivity Why a change in the business strategy is NOT a change in culture How your company culture can thrive through the dramatic shifts brought on or accelerated by the pandemic Why clearly defining the behaviours of the values is essential to sustaining a thriving culture

Leadership must have a mutual understanding of the company's values. The behaviours that define the values must reflect the leaders' current authentic behaviours. If not, the employees will see that the values are not original and do not know what is expected. To feel optimistic about moving towards your purpose or vision, your actions, and the people with whom you work must align with the values. We know that one's work is most meaningful when the actions reflect your authentic self. It is also well documented that values-based companies outperform those who say one thing and do something else. One of the foundational elements of successful leaders is figuring out how to build a shared understanding of their values, so people with whom they interact understand it is not just about achieving results but achieving results the right way. Values are your ethical code of conduct. Values differentiate right from wrong in how goals are accomplished. If you do not build a shared understanding of the values, anything is acceptable in pursuit of the purpose or vision of the organization. To move towards the purpose or vision with authenticity means first knowing and living the values. It means successfully achieving results only happens if the accomplishment is consistent with the values. Vision without values is just a dream. Values and Vision, working together, can change the world. The session will draw from various start-ups to global organizations that have ensured predictability by building a shared understanding of the values. The learning outcomes Understand why living the values positively impacts productivity, retention, and a positive employee experience. Be able to explain the connection between employees aligned with the values and successful execution of the business strategy. Learn a process to bring the values to life throughout the organization Be able to differentiate between authentic and aspirational values Know why aspirational values confuse employee Have examples of values-based companies that lived the values to survive a crisis.

We know that what one teaches in a company's formal programs is not always what leaders do. The hidden curriculum of the corporation reveals the alignment (or lack thereof) between the content of the training and what an employee sees practiced outside of the formal learning moments. The hidden curriculum perpetuates not necessarily what you teach in your Leadership Development or Onboarding, but through the hidden curriculum, people learn those behaviours that make the organization run. The content of the hidden curriculum creates for the employee a dual-mindedness about the behaviours that define success. When this happens, the covert behaviours are the ones that are most often learned. Those behaviours will dominate if leaders are not conscious of what people learn in the hidden curriculum. Like the school classroom, we consider learning successful if the concepts are understood. The hidden curriculum is extremely effective in driving learning and changing behaviours. To take control of the hidden curriculum, you must first know how it proliferates. In this interactive session, you will gain the ability to understand both what is and how to change it. Learning outcomes Understand the concept of the hidden curriculum in the workplace The ways of identifying the gaps between what is said versus what is done What to observe to discover the hidden side of work How to identify the gaps between what you teach in your formal program versus how things get done on the on-the-job The actions to be taken to avoid the traps of the hidden curriculum