Culture-gate

It’s getting a bit annoying – ever since Libor-gate happened, people have been (quite smugly) asking me what I think about corporate responsibility now eh?! Comments not dissimilar to what I had to endure when there was the BP oil spill a couple of years ago – the event that, at the time, apparently spelled the end of CR as we know it. What has happened at Barclays shows that it – and it’s not alone in this – has a way to go before it can claim to be a truly responsible company. In fact, and now this is going to sound a bit smug, it vindicates the Good Business view that, to be a truly responsible business, an organisation has to have these values embedded across the entire organisation; it can’t be championed by a few individuals or wrapped up in a side-line community investment or employee volunteering initiative – it’s got to be at the core of all business activity.

What’s been interesting to watch is the demonization of Bob Diamond. He hasn’t really helped himself. His refusal to accept any responsibility for what happened because he was unaware of what was happening isn’t endearing him to anyone; he’d have been much better to apologise and take responsibility for the misdeeds done on his watch, whether he saw it or not. The word that I think is important in relation to Bob Diamond and Barclays is ‘culture’. Corporate culture is the collective way of doing things within an organisation and it’s pretty important because it affects the way people and groups in the organisation interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders. However, it’s also not something that can be dictated or artificially created; it’s moulded and shaped through the values, visions, systems and language of an organisation. And, what’s crucial is that there’s a genuine belief in the importance of building and leading this culture from the top of the business – that’s what makes it authentic. This doesn’t mean that you have to do a Steve Ballmer and run around the stage screaming about how much you love the company or, for that matter, make evangelical statements about your organisation during a Treasury Select Committee hearing; it’s about genuine, sustained and sometimes quite understated activity that embodies the values at the heart of the business. And when things go wrong that expose a failing or breakdown in the organisation’s culture, the people at the top should recognise their part in the problem. Oh and to all business leaders out there, it might help to know the founding principles of the business – I have a feeling the words ‘honesty, integrity and plain dealing’ will not be easily forgotten by 'Bob' in the future.