{"id":3096,"date":"2017-08-01T08:14:02","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T13:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=3096"},"modified":"2017-07-30T22:41:14","modified_gmt":"2017-07-31T03:41:14","slug":"a-different-perspective-on-culture-change-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/a-different-perspective-on-culture-change-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"A Different Perspective on Culture Change – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

I can already sense what you\u2019re thinking! The last thing we need is another article on cultural or organisational change! Please, give us a break! Certainly I know all too well the number of consulting organisations out there like Senn-Delaney and all the other \u2018big\u2019 and \u2018small players\u2019 as well as independent consultants who believe they have the unique edge or insight into this issue.\u00a0 I have a good friend and colleague, John Childress who is head of Principia Group in London who just recently published a book on Culture Change. You can easily bury yourself in the literature and be fooled into thinking that this issue is something akin to the \u2018theory of relativity\u2019 when it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

No one is saying it\u2019s easy and unless there is strong commitment from the top and a clear approach which is flawlessly executed the results won\u2019t be achieved \u2013 at least not in this lifetime.\u00a0 In fact, I believe I may have read somewhere that 60-80% of \u2018change programs\u2019 fail \u2013 you can correct me if I am wrong. Traditionally when I have been invited into an organisation to help facilitate cultural change, they always like to know, \u2018How long will it take?\u2019 I tell them that this depends on where they are now and where they need to go in the future to become an enduring organisations that continues to set the standard for performance or to achieve their ideal state consistent with their vision \u2013 assuming they have one! However, the short answer is that it could easily be 3-5 years.\u00a0 Well, senior management, being normally impatient, are not happy campers.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a big job and even when it is done it\u2019s not done.<\/em><\/strong> As I will soon be writing about in future articles, \u2018Who in an organisation has ownership<\/em><\/strong>for its culture?\u2019 To me, the Human Resource organisation should be the steward and ensure, along with the rest of the leadership team, that the culture is regularly (annually) reviewed and assessed, refined or re-energised to remain in lock-step with the changing and turbulent operating environment, modifications to the vision as well as all the technological, competitive and changing customer requirements occurring on an on-going basis.<\/p>\n

The one thing you don\u2019t want to do is what Antony Jenkins, the new CEO who took over Barclays Bank after the Libor fraud scandal in 2013 which was to publically announce (paraphrasing): \u2018We have to make our organisation more customer focused \u2026 bladeebla\u2026 and our first step to move our organisation in that direction will be to lay off 4000 of our people!\u2019<\/p>\n

I am also aware that many of the approaches often appear to look more like \u2018rocket science\u2019 than common sense.\u00a0 This, I guess, is where I am going to try and \u2018weigh in\u2019 with this article.\u00a0 What I am going to share with you are two things: (1) what I have observed in my 42 years and some 50 cultural\/organisational change programmes of national or global extent for organisations such as Xerox, Shell, Duke Power, StoraEnso, Electrolux, Siemens, Chevrolet Motor Division and the list goes on and (2) share what I have learned from the perspective of a \u2018frontline<\/em><\/strong>\u2019 employee.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t go into all the details in this article, but hopefully provide you with enough to give you some helpful insights based on my experience. These may be totally different than those of you reading this article.\u00a0 That\u2019s fine and in fact that\u2019s great as it leads to refreshing dialogue.\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it, culture change, in my opinion, is more of an art than an science.<\/p>\n

So, trying to keep it short and with some value added, here we go and again I mention that what you will read below is what I have perceived or observed from a frontline employee<\/em><\/strong> perspective as to the steps in a successful cultural or organisational change process.<\/p>\n

Step #1: Frontline employees hear the words of management<\/h2>\n

Management states their intentions<\/em><\/strong>, aspirations<\/em><\/strong> or vision and why it is important to the organisation\u2019s future long-term success<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Hopefully some thought has gone into this and those thoughts reflect having listened and learned from employees, customers and suppliers and other key stakeholders too as appropriate. It is important to remember that the message<\/em><\/strong> communicated by management must be well engineered and inspiring as well as informative and indicate that it is a \u2018team effort\u2019 \u2013 all one team, senior management and all employees working together toward a better organisation and a better future.\u00a0 This message will set the expectations<\/em><\/strong> of employees \u2013 expectations which will either be met or not. In the latter case, namely failure to meet expectations set by management, the situation is most likely to end in disappointment for all parties involved, mistrust of management and failure to make any demonstrable change in the culture. However, each employee\u2019s contribution will be valuable. The specific contribution will be detailed as an integral part of the cultural change process \u2013 what contribution is expected as well as the level of performance expected in achieving that contribution \u2013 clear and realistic, yet at the same time challenging.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, senior management must have a well-defined plan \u2013 one component of which is the communication strategy<\/em><\/strong> (which ensures regular, 2-way, open and honest, complete and transparent communication) and an execution strategy<\/em><\/strong>. I will provide some suggestions in Part II<\/a> about these strategies.<\/p>\n

What management needs to understand is that for those employees that are more actively involved in this change effort, it cannot be just \u2019another job as assigned\u2019 and needs to be a priority \u2013 getting sign off from their direct manager and also being evaluated on their performance in supporting the effort and being recognised for it. That recognition can even be a write-up in the internal employee magazine highlighting them and their work or their team as an example.<\/p>\n

Step #2: Frontline employees see things happen<\/h2>\n

It is here that the manifestation of management\u2019s intentions starts to become real for employees.\u00a0 They may see and participate in \u2018town hall\u2019 meetings, asked to volunteer or be nominated for special strategic business improvement teams, traveling road shows put on by various members of senior staff in different locations to build awareness and gain stronger and more focused support and buy-in from employees.<\/p>\n

But remember, many organisations follow the \u2018program of the month\u2019 approach \u2013 or have in the past.\u00a0 As a result, employees have become conditioned not<\/em><\/strong> to become too excited because management in their infinite wisdom will replace this program with another one in 30 days \u2013 so just wait and see.<\/p>\n

As an example, when working with Siemens Telecommunications in the U.K., \u00a0I suggested 3 sessions.\u00a0 Each session had 35 volunteers<\/em><\/strong> plus approximately 5 – 7 middle and senior managers and<\/em><\/strong> making sure the CEO was at each session! Each session had some 4 elements: a cleansing, defining the future we want, providing some skills and knowledge and then defining an action plan. I decided that since there was such intense negativity in the organisation becasue Siemens had beaten the cost reduction drum for so many years, people were being made redundant, service levels were dropping, customers were becoming upset and more, that first I had to do was drive out this negativity or it would linger in people\u2019s minds acting like an anchor keeping us from moving forward.\u00a0 So I had everyone in the audience (and this was tough because the British are not open with \u2018feelings\u2019 like hate, love, frustration – being much more comfortable sharing information and facts).\u00a0 I captured it all on a flip chart and it was \u2018ugly\u2019 (even management was shocked), made sure we had it all, gained agreement that it was correct.\u00a0 Then I ripped the two full flip chart pages off, crumpled them into a ball and threw them in the waste paper basket.<\/p>\n

Then I said, OK, that was the past now let\u2019s begin to define a new future \u2013 one that we want. The concept here was to create a critical mass of \u2018change agents\u2019 through the organisation at every level and function who could network with one another, support one another, listen and learn from the other employees, communicate with senior management and get their support on the combined action plan which evolved from the three meetings.<\/p>\n

It worked.\u00a0 When I originally arrived on the scene, the CEO told me he and the management committee estimated that their organisation could only survive another 18 months under present conditions. Together we got the ship turned around.<\/p>\n

It is important that three keys elements are a part of this movement: (1) every effort is made to be inclusive \u2013 involvement, participation, engagement along with the communication discussed above; \u00a0(2) sustained senior management commitment and involvement and (3) ensuring there are no \u2018mixed signals\u2019 and everyone in management is reading from the same page \u2013 consistency.<\/p>\n

Step #3: Frontline employees begin to understand their role more fully at a high level (details to follow in the next steps)<\/h2>\n

In this case I am focusing on becoming a more customer-focused organisation, but the approach would work regardless of the focus, e.g., becoming people-centric.<\/p>\n

Note that it was Xerox which once said: \u2018There are only two positions in an organisation.\u00a0 Either you serve the customer directly or you serve someone who does\u2019.\u00a0 Truer words have not been spoken.\u00a0 From my perspective, if you, as a manager or senior manager do not see it that way, possibly you should consider a \u2018brain transplant\u2019?<\/p>\n

It is here where, if the issue is becoming more customer-focused, each employee is helped to do the following with the help of the \u2018change agents\u2019 created in the organisation if an approach similar to Siemens was taken or otherwise with the continuing support<\/em><\/strong> of team leaders, supervision and management at all levels:<\/p>\n