Are your traditions helping
or hurting your culture?
Tradition—the aspect of culture that’s often hard to
see until it’s already established—is the connective tissue between us.
By Meg McKeen, CIC
The recipe for your organizational culture is one of a kind and you, as a leader, are the chef.
Your own recipe likely includes, among other things, a measure of history and experience, a willingness to adapt and change, as well as your unique organizational values and traditions.
Tradition—the aspect of culture that’s often hard to see until it’s already established—is the connective tissue between us. Traditions can be quirky and even illogical and are nearly impossible to plan.
Often what comes to mind when we think of traditions are those we honor in our personal relationships, but we have traditions in our workplaces, too.
Consider your own experience as I share a few traditions I’ve observed in the past 25 years, working in both privately and publicly held, large and small insurance organizations:
- Potlucks the first Friday of each month to celebrate milestone anniversaries and birthdays for that month and scheduled posts to social media to commemorate them, too
- A frozen turkey for each employee, gifted the week before Thanksgiving
- The handing-off of a repurposed plastic bowling trophy to a team member when they take the new business lead
- White Castle-branded coffee for employees in each of the coffee stations at the office
- A note from the CEO of an insurance carrier, handwritten to a newly appointed agent after they write their first new business policy
- The conscientious decision by leadership to leave his cubicle empty when an employee passed away
What traditions have you embraced in your workplace?
When traditions become policies
Post-pandemic, so much has changed about the way we work; for many, it’s the hours or location from which we work or the level of authority or oversight we have or receive. It might also be how we dress when we do that work.
I had a hard time hiding my surprise when I learned about an organization requiring employees not just to return to the office but to be in business dress when they do: suits and skirts and ties—with no “soft pants,” as many have taken to referring to their work from home wear—to be found.
Curious to understand the history and reasoning, I discovered that the business dress requirement had been in place since “the beginning of time” and wasn’t up for negotiation. It’s a challenge to find a business suit in any retail store anymore, so even when it no longer meant more productivity or professionalism or better business outcomes, this tradition had become a company policy.
This tradition is centered on the way we dress for the work we do but, in other instances, traditions-turned-policies celebrate longevity and tenure with the company—and have become outdated. Considering many employees won’t celebrate any more than five to ten years with any one organization in their career, and many work remotely, they will never see their personalized parking spot or an office with a door after reaching certain milestones.
As we continue to be challenged to source and retain new and top talent in our industry, it makes sense that we take a deeper look at the traditions we honor within our organizations that may no longer be serving us, or the employees we hope will join us soon.
Are your traditions helping or hurting your culture?
An underwriter recently shared with me the hurt she felt when she arrived at the office on the morning of her birthday. She’d observed there was a tradition of decorating your cubicle for your birthday, and this was the first she’d celebrated since joining the firm.
Her cubicle, as you might have guessed, looked just like it did any other day when she arrived that morning. Of course, there’s nothing in the employee handbook that says your cubicle must be decorated for your birthday. No policy was violated, no ball was dropped. Maybe you’re even thinking she needs a thicker skin or to just get over it. But if she’s talking about it with me, it’s worth paying attention.
After all, we are humans having human experiences at work and feel a wide range of emotions as we do. We might feel proud when we land a big deal or happy when we’re promoted, or we might feel sad when we are left out. And even though others may not feel that way or even understand, we are not wrong to feel those emotions.
As a leader in your organization, you set and hold the organizational culture. So, when you see a tradition that’s creating disconnection, you have just two choices: You can use your authority and influence to acknowledge it, or you can choose to overlook it.
It might feel insignificant or even unproductive, but if you’ve committed to fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging, consider taking a deeper look at your traditions.
The way it’s always been
It worthwhile to conduct a simple audit of your organizational traditions and, even better, to do this with a few others inside your organization. Remember that the best (and worst) part of a tradition is that it can be so entrenched in your organization that it’s hard for you to recognize it.
Once you’ve identified your unique traditions, consider the following questions:
- What’s the origin of this tradition? Who does it serve? Perhaps a former leader started a tradition of “roasting” a fellow employee at an annual team luncheon. Does this tradition support the culture you’re working hard to foster today?
- Is this tradition performative? Does the tradition exist to give the impression that an organizational value is being held, but in fact is not?
- Is this tradition being honored consistently? The day you stop passing around the bowling trophy may be the first day a new team member has earned it. What message does this send?
- Is this tradition inclusive? A turkey for a vegetarian will miss the mark—and closing the office early or sending remote employees a mixology kit for a celebratory happy hour might, too, for an employee who is re-evaluating their relationship with alcohol.
Offering options, choice, or a simple acknowledgement that the tradition has missed the mark is key.
The only constant is change
One of the perceptions we’re working hard to combat is the insurance industry’s reluctance to change—and your organizational traditions are sending a message about your relationship with change, too.
Remembering that traditions are the connective tissue between us, let’s not wipe them away, but instead let’s consider ways our traditions can evolve just as our experiences and relationships do.
The author
Meg McKeen, CIC, founded Adjunct Advisors LLC in 2018 with the simple belief that we can and must do more to support the individuals who choose a career in the insurance industry. Her experience working for more than 25 years in underwriting, leadership, and sales within the industry fuels her work as a consultant today, in which Meg holds space, at the crossroads of personal and professional development, for insurance professionals as they navigate the challenges of our shifting relationship with work and this current hard market. Meg’s work includes private and small group coaching, workshop facilitation, industry event speaking and planning engagements, and the podcast she hosts, Bound & Determinedsm. Learn more at www.adjunctadvisors.com.
