Culture Fix: The Conscious Organisation
2023 Clore Fellow Dr Laura Crossley explores the deep roots and damaging impacts of toxicity in cultural sector workplaces. This paper challenges leaders to reimagine their organisations as conscious, caring environments where staff and creativity can genuinely thrive.
Prologue
When I applied for a Clore Fellowship, back in early 2023, I did so with one thought firmly in mind:
I’ve had it with toxic work cultures in the cultural sector.
I was sick of hearing horror stories about people’s experiences at work. I was tired of seeing people being crushed by bullying and harassment, and unfair, unhealthy work practices. At times, I felt disillusioned about working in a sector that does so much good for people and communities but does not always extend the same care to its community of workers.
As well as being concerned about the short and long-term impacts of toxic work cultures on cultural sector staff, I was worried about the future of the sector. Why would people want to join, or stay working in, a sector that didn’t seem to care for them? How can cultural sector organisations thrive if their people aren’t thriving? Detoxifying work cultures seemed to me to be more than a ‘nice to have’ but rather a vital act in ensuring the sector’s long-term resilience.
I knew I wanted to make a change, to play my part in tackling toxic work cultures, but feelings of disillusionment and exhaustion weighed heavily on me. The past few years – Covid, long hours, a lengthy personal illness, and day-to-day stresses – had worn me down and led to serious burnout. I was out of ideas, lacking in creativity and felt unable to come up with solutions. Through conversations with friends and colleagues, I found I wasn’t alone in feeling this way. I also noticed cultural sector colleagues who were feeling particularly fragile were often those who were working, or had previously worked, in what they described as toxic organisations. It felt there was some correlation between toxic work cultures and burnout – and little wonder; how can anyone be expected to thrive when they are forced to put their efforts into dealing with behaviours such as bullying and harassment, overwhelming workloads, uncertainty that comes with a lack of clarity and planning, and unrealistic expectations?
The time I have been afforded by doing a Clore Fellowship has been a gift. I have benefited from speaking with inspirational leaders from the cultural sector and beyond, and immersing myself in different, stimulating environments that have stretched my thinking. Most of all, the Fellowship has afforded me time: time to think, reflect, process, and imagine a better future. The experience has put my previous busyness and daily pressures into sharp focus. I wonder how I ever expected to solve problems when my diary was filled with meetings and delivering outputs, with no space to think. I realised I was tying my self-worth up in how much I delivered and how much work I was doing.
I am busy therefore I am succeeding.
I am busy therefore I am.
Since starting the Fellowship, I have been trying to unlearn these unhelpful mantras and, instead, put in place learnings from my research. It is through the lens of this newly acquired outlook on work – on life – that I write this article.
What Makes A Culture: Seens and Unseens
Work cultures don’t just happen; they are created. Leaders – and by ‘leaders’, here, I mean those in positions of power within organisations, while acknowledging everyone can be a leader – have ultimate responsibility for creating cultures that enable people and organisations to thrive.
So, what makes a work culture? The concept itself can feel nebulous, perhaps something which is felt rather than overtly defined. By this, I mean one can feel the effects of working in a toxic organisational culture – lack of clarity, anxiety, stress, burnout – while not always being able to identify all the elements of a culture that make it so toxic.
I suggest work cultures are made up of two types of practices: ‘Seens’ and ‘Unseens’.
‘Seens’ are the clear, visible, tangible things that I’d argue need to be in place to support a positive culture. For example, vision, values, mission, aims and objectives; forward plans; strategies and policies; pay structures and fair pay for staff and freelancers; and clear and fair systems and processes.
‘Unseens’ are the fuzzier, sometimes invisible (but nevertheless, felt) behaviours and rituals that can toxify a work culture, at worst eroding any benefits brought by the ‘seens’: Gossiping, microaggressions, bullying and harassment, modelling poor or unhealthy behaviours, inequality, discrimination, unachievable expectations, unfair pressure, poor communication, and more.
‘Seens’ are the strong anchors that mean ‘unseens’ have less soil to root in, and are vital to creating positive cultures. However, allowing ‘unseens’ to grow and take hold untethers these anchors and leaves organisations vulnerable to toxicity.
Toxic Work Cultures and Burnout
Toxic work cultures can have a multitude of negative impacts on people and organisations, with burnout being one of the most prevalent impacts.1
People suffering from burnout may experience symptoms including a lack of energy; self-doubt; overwhelm; reduced professional efficacy; and a myriad of health issues2. Organisations with burnt out staff can experience increased conflict; decreasing morale, engagement and productivity; and a lack of creative and innovative thinking and ideas3. Burnt out people are likely to lead to burnt out organisations – those lacking in creativity, clarity, forward-thinking, and resilience.
Nick Petrie’s fascinating research suggests people suffering from burnout must change their behaviours to prevent burnout in the future. This includes, for example, switching between work and home mode, creating clear boundaries, making peace with not getting everything done each day, and keeping work in perspective4. Petrie stresses that rest is not the solution to burnout5; although rest is vital and can make people feel better, going back to work and continuing to practice behaviours that lead to burnout undoes any of benefits gained from the period of rest.
Petrie’s research, alongside wider research into burnout and conversations with leaders, has led me to consider the idea of the ‘conscious organisation’ – one which actively puts measures in place to create positive, healthy work cultures that prevent burnout and enable people and organisations to thrive.
Conscious Organisations
The conscious organisation is an antidote to toxic work cultures that deplete – and can cause harm to – their people. They are led by intentional decision-making and considered actions. Just as Petrie suggests burnout in people must be reversed through changing behaviours, for me, the work culture of the conscious organisation is actively created and transformed to reduce burnout-creating behaviours, such as lack of time, unmanageable workloads and lack of autonomy.
Organisations themselves are ‘things’ that exist; it is people who make organisations what they are, people who do the work and make decisions. If an organisation’s people are feeling the negative effects of a toxic culture, including feeling burnt out, it seems to me an organisation will never be able to thrive in the way it would if its people were thriving. Leaders of conscious organisations, therefore, consider the impacts of potential decisions and actions on staff and freelancers6. For example, if taking on a new project is going to overburden staff who are already under pressure or consume too many resources, a leader might decide to modify or stop the project altogether.
It is important to note that it is absolutely possible to work in a ‘conscious’ way while continuing to generate income and maintain financial sustainability. This is about working strategically, prioritising, and using resources effectively. It calls for a rejection of unhelpful beliefs around busyness equating to success, and the idea we can only prove our worth – as individuals and organisations – if we are forever delivering and producing outputs. Busyness can actually mean weaker financial sustainability if we deliver ill thought-through outputs that nobody wants, or we stretch staff to the point of burnout – meaning creating, thinking, experimenting and innovating become harder to practice. We must remind ourselves that saying ‘no’ is a healthy organisational (and individual) behaviour, a boundary that enables us to have greater impact by leaving space for the things that truly align with our vision.
Acknowledge; Act; (Pay) Attention
In the conscious organisation, the work culture is intentionally created and is a continuous work in progress. I suggest this work is in three parts: Acknowledge; Act; (Pay) Attention.
Acknowledge: To understand what is happening in a work culture, take time to review and take note of the ‘seens’ and ‘unseens’ that are impacting on an organisation and – importantly – acknowledge the culture that is being experienced by staff. When we are working hard and doing our best, it can be difficult to truly acknowledge how staff are feeling and how the culture is impacting them, but this acknowledgement is vital if we are to tackle issues that are present.
Pause, review and consider:
- What does ‘good’ work mean in our organisation? What does a culture which enables people to thrive look like?
- What is important to us? What impacts do we want to achieve? Do we define success by how much we produce and deliver? If we defined success through the extent to which we are achieving specific impacts, which current deliverables could we let go of?
- What organisational behaviours do we exhibit? For example, do people feel under pressure to not take lunch breaks or holidays? Are emails sent after work hours and do people feel they need to respond quickly? How are our organisational behaviours making people feel?
To truly reach a state of acknowledgement, it is crucial to actively listen to colleagues. Explore how people are feeling, the difficulties they are facing, blockers that may be preventing them from thriving, what workloads look like and whether they are really realistic, and what gaps in knowledge there might be that can be filled with, for example, training or peer to peer mentoring. Listening is an act of care. In listening, we centre others’ needs and gain a deep understanding of others’ lived experiences. For those being truly listened to and heard, the experience can unlock thoughts that have gone unsaid, and can help people feel accepted, welcomed and understood.
Act: Listening on its own is not enough. Indeed, failing to act on things you have heard can lead to organisations feeling more toxic for those working in them. People who speak up and share their experiences have put their trust in you; it is important to show this trust was not misplaced. ‘Act’ means carrying out intentional actions to put measures in place that will build and develop positive work cultures.
- Make sure the ‘seens’ are in place in your organisation to act as strong anchors. Co-create strategies and policies with staff to ensure they are shaped by diverse voices. Adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying, harassment and discrimination.
- Develop impact measurements based on what really matters to your organisation. Focus on impacts rather than outputs. Reject the culture of busyness. Recognise and reward the things that matter to your organisation – for example, innovative thinking, experimentation, collaboration and kindness, and move away from simply rewarding excellence in delivery.
- Use resources wisely. Plan work that matches the resources you have available to you. Prioritise projects and tasks based on their alignment to your vision, mission and strategic objectives; unrealistic workloads will either not be delivered, burn out staff, or both. Mark time in diaries for rest, thinking, experimenting, innovating and collaborating, just as you would for meetings.
- Have a clear system for meetings. Which conversations need to be a meeting, and which don’t? Value and show consideration for people’s time: ensure meetings have a specific purpose and don’t let them overrun. Make time for discussion; frustration can build when people feel they are not being given the opportunity to air concerns and talk through issues.
- Build a culture of trust in which everyone feels safe to have honest and open conversations, take risks, experiment, fail, and learn. Ensure communication is clear and consistent. If there are issues that can’t be shared right now, clearly explain this position. Explain the reasons behind decisions you have made. A lack of communication and transparency can lead to a vacuum in which rumours circulate and incorrect (sometimes anxiety-inducing) conclusions can be drawn.
- Foster autonomy, giving people freedom to make their own decisions and take ownership of their work. Have clear decision-making processes and trust people to manage their own workloads.
- Share power. Acknowledge your own power within the organisation and understand the implications of your decisions and actions; consider how to use your power for good. Model inclusive behaviours. Create space for everyone to offer ideas. Invite constructive challenge and feedback.
(Pay) Attention: Work cultures are never ‘finished’; they require constant attention to remain non-toxic. To lead a conscious organisation is to continually notice, reflect, and take appropriate action to grow and maintain positive cultures.
- Develop a strong learning and evaluation culture, in which everyone can reflect on what’s working and what could be improved, and work together to develop solutions to issues.
- Take time to notice what’s going on in an organisation. If issues arise, tackle them; don’t let them fester.
- Keep noticing your own behaviours. Leaders have a responsibility to model behaviours that support positive work cultures. Give yourself time to think, take breaks, and switch off. Be the change you want to see.
Funders and the Conscious Organisation
I’d challenge funders to consider how to support and enable ‘conscious’ practices and directly tackle and decrease burnout in the sector. It has been heartening to see funders increasingly support workforce development and consider the potential impacts of a project on the workforce as part of the funding process, but I’d love to see more funding for initiatives such as paid sabbaticals7, organisational thinking time, and external thinking partners to support leaders. Funding ‘deliverables’ is important, but organisations can feel under huge pressure to overcommit and try to deliver more than is possible within their resources. I’d also like to see a firm commitment to ensuring funded projects pay staff and freelancers a fair wage, and measures in place to make sure project staff are not working for free.
Final Thoughts
In a sector dealing with the impacts of Covid, the cost-of-living crisis, lack of and loss of funding, and climate crisis, it is little wonder those working in it are feeling stressed and burnt out. But we – as individuals and organisations – will not flourish if we are in a persistent state of stress and burnout. In my view, the path to better work cultures which reduce stress and burnout, and enable people and organisations to thrive, is through intentional, conscious practice; acknowledging where there are issues and taking clear actions to create good work cultures.
When we are burnt out, changing a culture can feel overwhelming and it can be difficult to make a start. After reviewing, reflecting and acknowledging, ask yourself: What’s the first, small thing I can do to make a change? Take the first step, have courage, and always be kind to yourself.
Themes Alumni Journeys Leadership Styles Inclusive Leadership Practice Qualities of Leadership Sector Insights
