THE SPINNAKER

Sailing with the direction of the wind

CULTURE IS EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY

by Doug Peach, Deputy Town Manager

Everyone must have a clear, consistent, shared understanding for our organization to achieve its desired culture. And everyone must work together in a deliberate and coordinated effort to cultivate it. While each person or group is accountable in their own way, everyone shares accountability for achieving and maintaining the desired culture

The Town Council guides the definition and development of the desired culture, ensuring that it aligns with the Town’s strategic plan and meets the needs of all stakeholders

The Town Manager is responsible for defining and developing the desired culture through leadership actions, including setting objectives, strategies, and key results that prioritize culture building. The Manager also designs the organization and its operational processes to support and advance the Town’s purpose and core values.

The Department Directors are responsible for designing employee experiences that demonstrate and reinforce the desired culture. They implement strategies and programs that enable the rest of the organization to fulfill their culture responsibilities This includes offering training programs that develop culture activities and employee engagement They also establish culture processes and systems that reinforce the desired culture, such as rewards and recognition programs

Middle managers deliver employee experiences that demonstrate and reinforce the desired culture implementing culture-building strategies, cultivating employee engagement with the desired culture, and fulfilling the culture-building responsibilities of employees.

Team members provide input to the management team on the definition of the desired culture and culture-building programs and tactics by providing feedback on how the desired culture aligns with or differs from the actual culture, customer perspectives, and needs and expectations Team members should provide input on existing culture-building efforts and ideas for new ones. They also create, adhere to, and enforce routines and norms that demonstrate the desired culture. They must also align their attitudes and behaviors with the desired culture.

The days of building culture from the top down are obsolete. Instead, the culture must be emphasized from all directions. Our culture can only continue to expand throughout the organization and be sustained with all employees continually working to support it.