Shaun McCarthy was featured in an opinion piece in the Australian Financial Review commenting on aggressive cultures and the lack of diversity inside the Finance Industry:
'Systemic sexism and corrupt culture: it's time to hold the finance industry to account'
We've all had those nights where we should have politely declined that last glass of wine and yet somehow found ourselves throwing back tequila shots with the 20-somethings. And then suffered through an unproductive Thursday at work, willing the clock to tick faster. It's a societal norm; a rite of passage.
But what happens when a young man makes a conscious decision to cane the bottle all night long with his work colleagues, despite knowing he will get at least two or three phone calls during the night and need to make snap decisions about other people's money?
In the case of the finance industry, he walks into the office at 6am still slightly drunk, certainly hung over, and receives a round of applause from workmates for being such a rock star. He wears it like a badge of honour.
Such behaviour is symptomatic of the aggressive cultures that prevail in certain industries, including finance, where competition is encouraged, toughness is required and and the words "work hard, play harder" are used as a mantra.
Many finance organisations foster unhealthy internal competition as a reaction to what is seen as the need to be competitive in the marketplace. This causes staff to find ways to enhance their own position (win) or make someone else look bad (lose). The net result is in-groups and out-groups, little tolerance for differences, lack of diversity, poor management of conflict, and expectations that people will behave in these ways.
Us v Them
If you strip back the suits and substitute a playground for the office, it's very like high school with its cliques and stereotypes. Such is the similarity, that those who encourage these competitive behaviours talk about PLUs – or "people like us" – a schoolchild tactic that mimics the divisive structures of "us" versus "them".
This attitude serves as a gateway to everyday manifestations of unacceptable behaviour that then plagues the finance industry. Every day we hear stories about bullying and harassment, and inappropriate behaviour towards others – particularly women – in these very aggressive cultures.
When the overwhelming focus is on achieving financial targets, it results in dishonest, immoral and, at times, illegal behaviour.
Organisational culture is created by the behavioural norms and expectations that exist in an organisation. These norms and the behaviours that reflect them are rewarded by management. They start at the top with the board, and are transmitted down through the chief executive, senior management, mid-level managers and frontline leaders to everybody in the organisation.
It is a leadership issue, it is a board issue, and it is a systemic issue. Bad culture isn't limited to one sector and it can be seen in any industry, any country and in non-commercial organisations, too.
A systemic aspect of poor organisational culture is highlighted in a Diversity Council of Australia report that notes just 2.5 per cent of ASX-listed company directors are culturally diverse women.
Diversity key
There is some evidence that women are less likely to put up with aggressive cultures and are more prepared to walk away from their careers and pursue other goals. That automatically limits the numbers of female senior level executives who are in the pool of potential directors.
Add to that the legacy of a historically male-oriented work environment and the issue of females being paid less than males for doing the same jobs and it's easy to see why diversity in finance is an issue.
To achieve some sense of equality and genuine diversity in the boardroom we need to first address the cultures of organisations that encourage and reward aggressive behaviours.
Firstly, leaders in these organisations need to question the wisdom of the structures and systems that foster internal competition.
Research does not support the notion that internal competition leads to success in the marketplace. In fact, the very opposite is the case. Internal competition breeds silos, a lack of information sharing and a lack of co-operation throughout the organisation. Generally, this results in the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, which leads to quality issues, bugs, the need for fixes and sometimes corrupt action to cover over expensive and embarrassing errors. In the worst-case scenarios, people physically and/or emotionally target their colleagues to achieve personal success.
The research offers some hope that things will have to change. Leaving things as they are is a self-destructive time bomb, that doesn't have much time left.
Read the original article here