Regardless of an organization’s size, mission, or leadership, a shift in attitude cannot occur unless each employee makes a conscious decision to change. Indeed, every employee is responsible for creating and maintaining an environment in which everyone feels safe, respected, and empowered to contribute to the fullest extent. However, top leaders in organizations have the lion’s share for making this environment possible.

Accountability

Leaders must act as role models for their employees and embody the appropriate values and behaviors for dealing with diverse populations. They also need to be held accountable for their behavior during their performance evaluations, which will ensure that employees know that trust, respect, empathy, and ethics are valued by the company and are expected of all.

Of course, there will always be a few employees who will resist and ignore leadership guidance. If that behavior persists, those employees should be let go. Allowing negativity to remain in the organization would be misleading and send the wrong message throughout the company.

Within a team, each member must hold one another accountable for creating and maintaining the healthiest working environment. It is imperative that all members speak up when a behavior or language inconsistent is observed. At the team level, employees must coach each other and really commit to the development and personal growth of their team members, regardless of differences. Developing this environment is not easy, as many teams do not trust or respect the efforts of their peers.

ARMC Study

ARMC Global conducted research in 10 business units throughout the world and found that employees tend to believe their co-workers are less likely to be as self-aware as they are.

ARMC asked participants of the study to assess their level of agreement with the following statements, with 1 being “to no extent” and 10 being “to a great extent.”

• I periodically conduct a self-assessment to ensure that I understand my strengths and weaknesses: – 6.8

• Each team member periodically conducts a self-assessment to ensure he/she understands her/his own strengths and weaknesses: – 5.3

These results contribute to the troubling trend of self-aggrandizement. Employees gave themselves higher scores than their team members, but none of the scores suggest an extremely strong overall commitment to self-reflection. All employees must understand the value of self-assessment. There is no room for the belief that a person in need of coaching is ignorant or incapable of change. The arrogance of those who refuse to accept the value in different viewpoints simply cannot exist within a productive organization.

Evolution

Senior managers hold a particular responsibility for the culture in their organization because they have the power to develop strategies and champion behaviors needed. But an organization’s culture is not some sacred ideology that only leaders can affect or change. Organizational culture is the behavior that employees exhibit when they are not being observed.

In a positive organizational culture, employees are ethical, empathetic, and inclusive when making decisions, working in teams, and performing their daily routines, even when no one is watching. These things are not only based on the corporate values that dominate an organization, but also on the values an employee brings to the company.

Although the evolution of cultural change is often slow or at times even nonexistent, the very least one can do is change his or her personal thoughts and feelings in an attempt to improve and influence the thoughts and feelings of others. That alone is a great support to initiating change.