Culture is set from the top down
This issue’s Executive Series (see article #7959) features highlights from a seminar with organizational psychologist Tom Tavares in which he made the provocative statement “management is broken.”
There is no better example of this than the oil gushing from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. At press time, no end was in sight to this ecological disaster — the so-called “top kill” and “junk shot” methods failed and experts are saying it will likely take until August to stop the flow. The oil industry, to put it mildly, has some explaining to do.
The finger pointing has begun in earnest and what’s trickling out is an epic story of leadership failure on the part of BP, subcontractors and government regulators. A report from the United States government — produced by the Interior Department — revealed federal inspectors overseeing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico accepted meals and tickets to sporting events from the companies they were monitoring.
That’s textbook conflict of interest, which Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called “evidence of the cozy relationship between some of the elements of (the agency) and the oil and gas industry.”
HR 101 tells us culture needs to be driven from the top down. In this case, the top is the federal government. And what example have lawmakers in Washington been setting for front-line inspectors? One needs to look no further than lobbyists. All kinds of industries — including oil — wine and dine congressional representatives in an attempt to gain their favour.
Some of the laws on the books — including one that limits liability for damages from an oil spill to US$75 million — are unabashedly oil-friendly. (Though BP, to its credit, has said it will ignore that cap and pay all legitimate economic claims.) In the previous government, the number two guy — Vice-President Dick Cheney — was a former oilman, stepping into office after five years as chair of the board of directors and CEO of Halliburton. It’s hard to get more cozy than that.
But will this disaster change anything? The new person at the top — President Barack Obama — is saying some of the right things. The accident, he said, demonstrates “for years the oil and gas industry has leveraged such power that they have effectively been allowed to regulate themselves.”
Words, of course, are meaningless. But there’s a lesson here for every organization and for every HR professional. If your executive management team is accepting gifts, lavish meals and tickets from clients, then it’s disingenuous to act surprised if that behaviour is mimicked by front-line staff.
Summer publishing schedule
On a more positive note, we’re approaching the all-too-short summer season in Canada. Canadian HR Reporter is switching to its summer publishing schedule, which means the next issue will be published on July 12. On behalf of the entire team here, I’d like to wish all our readers a safe and enjoyable summer.
