When things aren’t working in an organisation over a long period of time, you can usually trace the source of the problem to organisational culture. While it’s true that culture is a tough ship to turn around, all is not lost.
If you are starting from a low base and you’re ambitious in terms of the period of time you want to set for a turn around, then you might need to seek the assistance of an external expert to guide you through the process. However, there are some very simple practices that can be put in place over time that will have a profound and positive impact and potentially provide the answer you are looking for.
Organisational culture is the “fabric of the organisation” – a system of shared values, beliefs, assumptions and behaviours that sets the foundation for everything that happens, and allows the organisation to be successful in achieving its goals, or not.
Any business leader interested in its brand should also be very interested in its culture, because the first follows the second. Culture will permeate even the slickest marketing campaign as soon as your customers or your suppliers start engaging with your people. A poor culture will negatively impact the health and wellbeing of your staff, as well as your bottom line.
1. Commitment from the Top
It is vital that every single person on the board and in the senior management team are fully bought in and committed to cultural transformation. Your change program will only be as strong as its weakest link.
2. Values
When you want to create a new culture, you must begin by defining it. A clear set of organisational values is an essential starting point to help anchor your new culture in reality and provide guidance for your people as they go about their daily activities and decision-making. Ideally you would commit to at least three and no more than five core values. Any more than five, and you will find it is difficult for people to remember and apply them.
Depending on the size of your business, find a way to involve everyone in the process of defining and committing to these values.
3. Expectations
Once you have your values defined, you can expand on those words to provide a description of what each one means to your business in one or two sentences. This is important because ‘integrity’ means different things to different people, as does ‘service’ or ‘fun’. It is even better then to provide examples of what each value looks like in practice. This will help the individuals in your team(s) to apply those values directly.
4. Create a sense of Urgency
Expect resistance to your proposals for change and plan for it from the start. Talk with your team(s) about how the future is likely to look if you don’t make these changes. Have them get the real impact of the current situation (without going so far as to create an emergency). People need to feel the problem before they will consider and commit to change. Have your CEO or Manager share your alternative vision for the future with them. This is how you begin to gain buy-in.
5. Conversations & Agreements
Its important to engage your people in two-way conversation, asking them questions and listening carefully, as you begin the communication process. This will require some time and patience.
Get verbal agreement from your staff members for the changes you require of them, particularly when introducing new policies and then follow up in writing to ensure you both have the same understanding of the outcome of that conversation. This is vital in successful performance management and holding people to account later down the track.
6. Re-induction & Recruitment
When introducing new expectations and policies, set up a program to re-induct your existing staff. Don’t assume that each person fully understands or follows the details of these new expectations. Take every person along for the ride step by step.
Recruit for people who fit your new culture and who are prepared to work to your values. Ensure your recruitment processes and conversations include strong reference to your organisational culture and ask for commitment to them during the on-boarding stage.
7. Performance Management
Effective performance management closes the loop of the cultural transformation process, reinforcing and rewarding good behaviours and providing support for the next step in the journey of change for each individual.
8. Integrity
Protecting the integrity of your new culture is critical to success. Your board members and leadership team should be walking talking examples of the desired culture in practice. Be prepared to hold each other to account – and also to support each other, as you break old habits and embed new habits. Holding each other to account might in fact be one of the new behaviours you have identified that will ensure you can deliver on your organisational objectives.
Above all, be patient and keep moving forward. A culture of dysfunction is a costly situation for any organisation and its people; and your investment in time, energy and belief will pay dividends as you start to see your culture transformed, and new results emerge.
