Why the right culture is an organisation’s greatest intangible asset

Eileen Doyle, a director of NEXTDC and Oil Search, says setting the right culture in an organisation is about finding a balance between co-operation and challenge.

“You have to work together to build that culture,” she says. “Someone at the right point has to be prepared to challenge somebody who’s not living up to it.”

Doyle has spent many years on board health and safety committees and applies what she has learnt about influencing a company’s safety culture to influencing the broader culture of the organisation.

The starting point for a board and management is to define the culture they want in the organisation.

Culture is a vibrant, dynamic ingredient into the business mix, says Peter Hearl. Chris Hyde

“First of all you set your culture, and that’ll be different for every organisation. Then you systematically define what’s important to reinforce or create that culture,” she says.

Directors need to ensure there is some sort of measurement system in place to track an organisation’s cultural performance, Doyle says.