Building a strong, positive workplace culture is often touted as the secret to long-term success. Yet, despite this well-known fact, many organisations still opt for quick fixes over meaningful, sustained change. Why is this? Why do so many CEOs choose to focus on short-term wins at the expense of long-term gains? In exploring these questions, we’ll introduce some real-world cases and examine the root causes of this widespread issue.
The Lure of Short-Term Wins
The business world moves fast, and the pressure on executives to deliver immediate results is immense. Shareholders, board members, and investors often expect a steady stream of good news in the form of rising stock prices or increased profits. As a result, some CEOs find themselves chasing quick wins that will look good in the next quarterly report.
A classic case of this is the well-publicised downfall of Carillion in the UK. The construction and facilities management giant, once the darling of the stock market, collapsed in 2018 due to a combination of unsustainable short-term decision-making and deep-rooted cultural problems. Carillion’s leaders continually prioritised keeping investors happy with rosy forecasts, while failing to address the toxic work culture festering within the organisation. Staff felt undervalued, and important risk signals were ignored. In the end, this house of cards couldn’t hold.
Fear of Doing the Heavy Lifting
Creating a workplace culture that fosters psychological safety, trust, and innovation takes time and effort. It’s about rewiring how people behave and interact on a daily basis. This requires consistent leadership, open communication, and, sometimes, tough conversations. It also involves investing in the long-term well-being of employees, even when this may not provide an immediate financial return.
For many CEOs, the fear of undertaking this heavy lifting stems from the unknown. Transformational culture change is not guaranteed to succeed, and it often requires a significant upfront investment of both time and money. Take the example of Royal Mail in recent years. Leadership hesitated to make tough decisions around long-term cultural reforms while leaning on quick cost-cutting measures to appease stakeholders. This led to an increasingly disgruntled workforce and disrupted operations – a ripple effect that ultimately impacted the company’s public image.
Ego and Control
Sometimes, the reluctance to invest in cultural change is less about business strategy and more about ego. CEOs and senior executives may fear the loss of control that comes with empowering teams and encouraging open communication. A culture that values autonomy and innovation require leaders to relinquish some of their power, and this can be a deeply uncomfortable prospect for those at the top.
A telling example is Wells Fargo. Under former CEO John Stumpf, the bank’s leadership pushed staff to meet aggressive sales targets without regard for ethical consequences. Employees who failed to hit these targets were pressured, creating a fear-based culture that led to the infamous fake accounts scandal. The company prioritised immediate financial gain over a healthy, transparent culture. When the scandal broke, it became clear that this short-term thinking had catastrophic long-term consequences, both reputational and financial.
The Importance of Psychological Safety
One reason many organisations struggle with culture is a lack of psychological safety – a key ingredient for innovation and long-term success. This concept, pioneered by Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson, refers to an environment where employees feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and admit mistakes without fear of retribution.
Companies that invest in psychological safety often see the benefits play out over time. For example, Google’s Project Aristotle found that teams with high levels of psychological safety performed better, were more innovative, and had higher job satisfaction. Yet creating such an environment requires patience and a willingness to listen to employees, which can be challenging for leaders fixated on short-term performance.
The Real Long-Term Payoff
While quick fixes may satisfy stakeholders in the short run, the organisations that truly thrive are those willing to do the heavy lifting required for long-term cultural change. Companies like Unilever, under the leadership of former CEO Paul Polman, have demonstrated how long-term thinking can benefit both business performance and workplace culture. Polman steered the company towards sustainability and employee well-being, often resisting short-term pressures from investors. As a result, Unilever has maintained steady growth and a positive public image, while also being recognised as one of the world’s most sustainable companies.
Final words
Choosing the easy way out may seem like a safer option, but the long-term costs often far outweigh the short-term gains. CEOs who fear the heavy lifting of cultural transformation are ultimately limiting their organisation’s potential. As the examples of Carillion, Royal Mail, and Wells Fargo demonstrate, the price of neglecting culture is high. On the other hand, companies like Google and Unilever show that investing in a strong, positive workplace culture can deliver lasting success.
Ultimately, CEOs need to move beyond the allure of quick wins and focus on the long game. It might be harder in the short term, but the payoff – for the shareholders, the organisation and its employees – is well worth the effort.
“ACN has a track record of supporting Senior teams significantly shift culture that has had positive outcomes in both shareholder confidence and reaching key strategic goals”
