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Even the best organisational systems and processes can become powerless in the face of behavioural norms that are "obeyed but not discussed", a culture and leadership specialist says.

KPMG's recent cultural review (reported here by HR Daily), conducted in the wake of its publicly dissected whistleblowing failures and leadership criticisms, serves as a reminder for all employers to look for subtle cultural warning signals in their organisations, says The Change Company director Paul Donovan.

Organisations should consider whether their own "collective norms" are aligned with both the behaviour they want and the behaviour outlined in their systems and processes, he tells HR Daily.

Donovan says it's clear from the review that KPMG had "lots of formal procedures in place"...