Colin D. Ellis is an award-winning international speaker, four-time best-selling author, and renowned expert in workplace culture and project management. With over 30 years’ leadership experience in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, Ellis helps organisations worldwide transform their operations.
What are the key steps to building a positive and inclusive workplace culture from the ground up?
“You get the culture that you choose to build, so taking the time to work with the staff to follow a structured process to define the values, behaviours and day-to-day norms will provide the best opportunity for success. Without defining the culture, the risk of toxicity is greatly increased.”
How important is cultural fit during the hiring process, and how can recruiters effectively assess it in candidates?
“A candidate’s skills (i.e. the ability to do the job effectively) will get them an interview, however, it’s their personality, attitude and contribution to values that should get them the job. Questions should centre around these three things.”
What are some best practices for communicating a company’s culture to potential candidates during the recruitment process?
“Candidates should be encouraged to research the company prior to the interview to assess how they can add value to the culture if they get the job. To that end, they should be directed to the pages on purpose, vision and values.”
How has the rise of remote and hybrid work models affected organisational culture?
“Hugely. The organisations that thrived during and post-COVID are those that have actively redefined their culture for the hybrid/remote world. Many organisations are still struggling because they are trying to fit new ways of working into an ‘old’ culture and thus generating the opportunity for toxicity.”
What strategies can companies employ to maintain a strong culture with a dispersed workforce?
“Ensure that staff are actively involved in defining the new cultural norms. These include how/when the team interacts face to face, how technology is used to support collaboration and how wellbeing will be maintained.”
What metrics can HR professionals use to measure the health of their workplace culture?
“Engagement is the typical measure, however, measuring the happiness of staff is also a good way to gauge organisational health. The best cultures also measure productivity and results, but recognise that these are driven by the culture.”
Could you share some practical tips for addressing and improving a toxic workplace culture?
“Employ an independent person to investigate the claims of toxicity. The recommendations that they make should be implemented with humility. Toxic individuals should be removed from the organisation to ensure that the toxicity is permanently eradicated.”
What is the best way to foster connection with a remote workforce or those that follow a hybrid work model?
“Connection between humans is best achieved when they are physically together, so opportunities for staff to do so at regular stages during the year ensures that connections are maintained regardless of where people are based.”
Do you think it would help if workplaces started creating policies based on generational needs rather than general policies, for example, what Gen Z seek?
“Not policies no, however, they should be more deliberate about creating generational understanding. This is something I teach as part of my culture programs and generates immediate empathy between people from different generations.”
How can leaders at all levels contribute to nurturing and reinforcing a positive workplace culture?
“By ensuring that they don’t leave it to chance. You get the culture that you choose to build, so if leaders wish to create a nurturing, positive culture, they have to spend the time and money to do so. This investment will provide almost immediate payback in results.”
What are the signs that an organisation’s culture needs to change, and how can HR professionals initiate this change?
“An organisation is only as good as the behaviours it chooses to walk past. HR professionals need to ensure that poor behaviour (or performance) isn’t normalised and ensure that they have clear, easy-to-follow performance management practices to address the factors that may hold them back.”
How can employees initiate change?
“By recognising that they not only have the responsibility for the culture within which they work, but also they have much more agency than they think they have. They can send fewer emails, initiate shorter meetings, remove distractions to focus work, all without permission!”
Is cultural fit still on hiring managers’ agendas considering the implied bias of the concept?
“Possibly, however, the big issue with culture fit (and culture more generally) is that managers don’t understand what it actually means. Culture fit is about finding someone who has the right skills to do the job AND who can contribute positively to the values of the organisation.”
In your experience, what are the most common barriers to creating a positive workplace culture, and how can they be overcome?
“The biggest barriers to creating a positive culture is the lack of good middle management. Middle managers have a significant influence on the day-to-day cultural practices, yet most lack the skills to be able to do this effectively.”
What role does technology play in shaping modern workplace culture, and how can companies leverage it effectively?
“Technology plays a huge role – both positively and negatively. Unfortunately, for many employees, how technology is used represents a drain on their productive time, yet when used well, it can greatly enhance collaboration and productivity.”
How does DEI play a part in workplace culture in 2024 and beyond?
“Diversity is about hiring a workforce that supports the customers they serve, equity is about ensuring that people are treated well and paid in line with their responsibilities, whilst inclusion is about ensuring that every employee has a voice that is given the opportunity to be heard. Therefore, DEI has a huge role to play in culture in 2024 and beyond, however many organisations treat this as a tick box exercise and this ultimately leads to a toxic culture. These are very different elements that need to be addressed.”
Any examples of successful culture transformation initiatives you have been a part of?
“I worked with one organisation who had very poor engagement and as a result were missing targets. I worked with them to redefine their culture over three days. Within three months not only had their engagement lifted, but all other statistics (customer service targets, speed, quality) had all increased too.
“A major multinational that I worked with wanted to maintain the good culture that they had, so for two days I trained them on how to do this. The following month – and having put what they learned into action – they achieved record sales.”
Any quick and effective ways to boost employee morale and engagement through cultural initiatives?
“Cultures evolve, so the best way to boost morale and engagement is to ensure that a regular program of events exists. These may include talks from experts, book clubs, social events, quizzes etc. These events should take place in working hours as a way of the organisation demonstrating just how much they value culture and connection.”
How do you foresee the concept of workplace culture evolving in the next 5-10 years?
“As more millennials and Gen Z are hired into management positions they will bring a much greater focus on humanity and wellness within the workforce as the foundation for high-performance and this is a good thing. AI will also impact culture, but we’re not sure yet whether this will be good or bad! Done badly, AI will simply become another opportunity for toxic culture to thrive.”
Ellis’ latest book, Detox Your Culture draws from experience helping people understand the importance of creating proud workplace cultures and offers practical tips to create positive cultural conditions, characterised by belonging, inclusivity, flexibility, and value creation.
Learn more about Collin D. Ellis here.
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