Dive Brief:

• Can the simple act of walking into a reception area provide a clue as to what type of business culture exists? Yes, says a human capital management (HCM) professional, according to an article at Intheblack.com.
• In fact, Cholena Orr, based in Melbourne, Australia, told Intheblack.com that she also can tell what kind of leader an organization might have by talking to the reception staff.
• She offers what she believes are the top five myths about culture: "culture is the equivalent of perks," "culture is a 'mood,' " "culture is someone else's problem," "you can't hire for a great culture" and "investing in culture is a waste of money."

Dive Insight:

“Many leaders simply don’t recognise just how much influence they have over their company’s culture. Nor do they understand what culture is," Orr told Intheblack.com.

For example, she says an attentive and organized reception staff often leads her to a leader that is "paying attention to investing in people." On the other hand, a disorganized reception area with a rude receptionist often leads to Orr meeting a CEO who "doesn’t see people as their most important asset, and who doesn’t believe in training.” 

An employer who refuses to invest in training or its people breeds "a dog-eat-dog culture" where workers will not succeed, Orr said. Job satisfaction will plummet – as evidenced by Columbia University research that found 48.4% of employees working within a poor culture were “very likely” to leave their job, compared with only 13.9% of employees who experienced a "positive workplace culture."

Orr told Intheblack that leadership training is the best option when investing in culture, from the C-suite down to line of business managers. Why?  Leaders shape culture and culture affects everything – from innovation to recruiting and talent retention.