ABSTRACT
The work culture is the differentiating force that changes a worker from someone who just turns up for work to a valuable employee, who engages and makes things happen. A negative culture destroys value, increases risk and decreases effective top-down control. Culture is the fulcrum that leverages performance and aligns behaviours. Fear-based cultures might work in violent organisations, but in our mainstream corporate world, where building customer and market trust is critical, fear will be counterproductive. A fearful culture breeds cover-up and inhibits creativity, problem solving and progress. Research into corruption and the various banking scandals has identified behavioural and structural indicators that do not show up in compliance, risk management and internal audit reviews that rarely focus on culture. Hospitals are too often riven by belief systems around status, hierarchy and power – the white-coated gods – that diminish the power of the published values.
