{"id":2575,"date":"2016-09-05T00:07:21","date_gmt":"2016-09-05T05:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=2575"},"modified":"2016-08-31T00:18:33","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T05:18:33","slug":"how-do-you-transform-a-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/how-do-you-transform-a-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Transform a Culture?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"globe-689407_960_720\"So you\u2019ve gotten a big client or Senior Leadership position. The company that is hiring you has seen the results of your previous projects, and they want you to start a very large global project (Enterprise Level) on numerous sites. You of course say, \u201cWe can do anything you want.\u201d This is a typical response from most consulting companies and executives. The instant promise of being able to deliver amazing results without even understanding the business model, or most importantly its current state. You tell senior executives that it is just as simple as putting some visuals in place and running some events, tightening up on the management team, and you will have the company trimmed out in no time. The true fact of the matter is that results that are promised can\u2019t be delivered because the time frame is too short for the complexity of the real issue. The culture isn\u2019t ready for the change. It\u2019s easy for someone to say it\u2019s all about the culture to know how to transform one is the hard part.<\/p>\n

You can look at a company\u2019s Lean journey like a fraction. Twenty percent will be teaching and applying a Lean Six Sigma tool set and theory, the other eighty percent will be the\u00a0transformation of the culture. Cultural transformation is changing habits, the way of working, and the belief system. To change a belief system you need to create a system. This will definitely be the most time consuming and challenging. It is difficult enough to get an already mature culture to transform let alone a damaged one. What could create a damaged culture? Some examples are low pay, poor working conditions, no opportunity for advancement or development, no succession planning, poor recognition, etc. So it is imperative that you know the cultures climate.<\/p>\n

A good way to evaluate the workforce\u2019s willingness to change, favorability and engagement is through a survey. The survey should have specific categories built around, development, job satisfaction, compensation, perception of management, etc. \u00a0This is what you could call pre-work. Now normally when companies do this they just look at the data and say, \u201cWow look how poor we did.\u201d What needs to be done is employee focus groups need to be created so that the employees can solve their own issues with all levels of management by using the data collected from the different categories. This does several things it allows employees at all levels to have open conversation about real issues the workforce is facing. It also gives an opportunity for development to assist in solving real management issues. Sometimes hourly employees come up with great projects and fixes to systemic issues or they realize everything isn\u2019t that easy to fix (walking in someone else\u2019s shoes). Either way it is a positive experience to increase employee engagement, favorability, and communication or just flat out mentor individuals.<\/p>\n

These surveys should normally be done every year or eighteen months. To show improvement create a measurement for employee favorability or engagement. Handle this like any other METRIC for revenue, inventory turn, operating income, etc. Monitor the score and strive to have a workforce where at least\u00a076% of employees would recommend working there (this is considered world class). Allow employees to share the success of their focus group projects with all.<\/p>\n

How do we design a system as leaders to build the culture and meet business objectives?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first step which is the simplest yet usually always missed is communication (when it comes to consistency, frequency and depth).\u00a0Have you ever worked for a company where management has three or four hour long meetings a day, but only meets with hourly employees on a quarterly basis if that? This type of atmosphere will create a bull whip effect of rumors, resentment, misalignment of strategies and objectives. Targets and milestones will be missed for projects as well as daily customer requirements. Employees create their own systems to deal with issues and it becomes almost impossible to identify the source or process that failed.\u00a0So what\u2019s the answer from a Lean perspective? The answer is Leadership Standard Work. This is sometimes confused as scheduled staff meetings, tool box meetings or general management communication.<\/p>\n

What is Leadership Standard Work? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Operators have standard work for their value added activities and so should leadership at all levels. The core of Leadership standard work which everyone knows is the Gemba (which refers to observations made where the process occurs). Some of the other components of Leadership Standard Work are usually overlooked and not managed properly. They are reflection meetings, Andon response, accountability process, and mentoring. I will briefly cover them all below.<\/p>\n

Gemba<\/strong><\/p>\n