Culture at Somerset County Council - Summary

Here's part 2 of my report into culture at Somerset County Council. Again, first draft and really happy to take any comments or questions!

And because text-only is a bit dull, here's a picture of a lovely quote displayed in Street Library

Executive Summary - Why Look at Culture?

Context

A very simple definition of organisational culture is, “How things are done around here”. A more detailed explanation would describe culture as a system of shared values, beliefs and assumptions that govern how people work and behave. Of course, articulating an overarching corporate culture is incredibly difficult and is in danger of ignoring the different sub-cultures that operate at service area and team levels. This latter point is of particular relevance where there is a large organisation with very different services, such as we see in the public sector. To be more specific, the team culture in the customer contact centre in Taunton may be very different to the culture in the library in Glastonbury, which in turn may differ to a children’s social care team in Bridgwater, which may have a different ‘feel’ to the public health team. That said, there are overarching values and behaviours that will govern how an organisation will look and feel, both to staff and to the population that they serve. This is what we are referring to when we describe an organisational culture.

We know that a toxic culture can cause significant damage to an organisation and the people that it serves. In the examples quoted at the start of this report, poor culture at its worst can lead to deaths. At its most benign, poor culture will result in low performance and morale.

On the other hand, great culture can make an organisation and its people; it is central to sustained success. This is recognised by leaders across different sectors and is perhaps best summed-up by the management thinker Peter Drucker and his quote, “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast.” Given this central importance to the performance of an organisation, it is essential that leaders at all levels have an in-depth understanding of the culture in their organisation and, perhaps more crucially, are seen to enhance that culture and model the behaviours that they wish to see.

Culture Project

A quick Google-search on improving organisational culture will reveal dozens of tips and tricks. In truth, there is no quick way to improve culture; it requires a long-term approach using a mixture of different approaches and interventions. Conversely, there are some sure-fire ways of wrecking organisational culture, which can be done almost overnight. The wrong conversation or remark can have devastating consequences; one only needs to think of Ratners’ jewellery company. Closer to home, there are still names and moments whispered around Somerset County Council, describing things that happened years ago but still act as a marker in terms of the look and feel of our organisation.

The project to look at culture at Somerset County Council has involved dozens of workshops and presentations, listening to what hundreds of colleagues have to say and then analysing their feedback. This has been divided into 5 themes (Communication, Development, Style, Environment and Team), and across 3 questions (Culture at SCC, What Would Great Culture Look Like, What Do We Need to Change).

The aim of this work is to inform a new people strategy for Somerset County Council, one that reflects the thoughts and ideas of colleagues at all levels and across all services.

The feedback and comments from staff have been positive and negative, reflecting the richness of life across a large organisation. Without fail, all workshops have combined humour and very real, honest conversations, with an absolute wish to improve outcomes for our citizens. Is there an overarching culture at Somerset County Council? Based on this work and the comments from colleagues, yes and it’s positive. These are words from staff: We are Proud to be Local Government and We Want to Make a Difference.