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According to a recent Blue Ivy Group survey about a third (35%) of employed Americans believe their workplace is “Culture Conning.” Culture conning is defined as a practice by which companies market themselves as having employee centric workplace cultures to recruit employees but fail to deliver on that promise. 

Does this phenomenon feel real to you?  It does to me. As a 30-year HR executive I’ve seen organizational leaders tout their new brand names and well-crafted organizational value statements thinking that is going to be the ticket to recruit and retain much needed talent. But turnover remains high.  Forward movement on objectives remain stagnant. Organization politics reign supreme.  

The real heaving lifting is at the culture level. The study found that 74% of employed Americans could cite at least one aspect of their company culture that is “broken.” The top answers cited were: 

  • Leadership/management (28%), 
  • Lack of trust between staff and management (23%)
  • Lack of work/life balance (23%)
  • Unsustainable workload (21%)

The irony is that the same leaders who tout empty value words, are also seen as breaking the culture, or “culture cons.”  

To retain talent in this stiff market it requires that every leader look in the mirror and ask yourself “am I a culture con?”

Culture conning signs to look for: 

  • You’re a “do as I say and not as I do” type of leader and organizational culture? 
  • You lead from your office and not alongside your team? 
  • You point fingers at other people or departments when you can’t retain people?
  • You get more excited about new brand names than fixing problems at a deep level? 

On the flip side healthy organizations and leaders are those who:

  • Own their history, behaviors and methods and seek pivotal improvements
  • Are authentic relationship builders
  • True collaborators who put people over politics

If your organization sounds like a "culture con" and you are ready to see things change, drop me a line I can help. Learn more.

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Tresha Moreland

Tresha Moreland is a 30-year organizational effectiveness and strategic workforce planning expert. She partners with business leaders to develop workplace strategies that achieve best-in-class results. She has held key organizational leadership roles in multiple industries such as manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality, and healthcare. Tresha is the founder and principal consultant of HR C-Suite, LLC (www.hrcsuite.com). HR C-Suite is a results-based HR strategy resource dedicated to connecting HR with business results. She has received a master’s degree in human resource management (MS) and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). She has also earned a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Six Sigma Black Belt Professional (SSBBP) Certification. She is also recognized as a Fellow with the American College Healthcare Executives with a FACHE designation.

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