Can Change Management

Techniques Change Workplace

Culture?

Presenter: Rosalie Cuy

What is ‘Workplace Culture’?

There are many different definitions of workplace culture, however they all generally agree that collective experience, routine, beliefs, values, goals, rituals, jargon and systems all go into making up a workplace ‘culture’. It’s how an organisation carries out it’s business on a day to day basis, it’s ‘the way we do things around here’.

A more formal definition is: ‘The specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization.’ Charles W. L. Hill, and Gareth R. Jones, (2001)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO2vNyBroco&feature=related

What is

Workplac

e Culture ?

Let’s take a few minutes to learn about Workplace Culture (also known as Corporate Culture)

What is ‘Workplace Culture’?

Workplace Culture is often the hidden factor that can substantially impact on an organisations profitability, growth potential and it’s ability to quickly adapt to changing conditions in the business environment.

Why is it important?

Most organisations overall workplace cultures will fall into 1 of 4 different cultural structures:

‘Types of Workplace Cultures’

1.Power Culture

2.Role Culture

3.Task Culture

4.Person Culture

Power Culture – power is controlled by an individual or small group, usually found in small to medium sized organisations. Little delegation of decision making authority, personal relationships with the individual or small group which controls the power matter more than formal position within the organisation.

Role Culture – Typical hierarchical in structure, people have clearly delegated authority for decision making. Power comes from position held in the organisation and is regulated by procedures and policy.

Task Culture – team based approach to completing tasks, power derives from expertise and these cultures often have multiple lines of reporting.

Person Culture – this type of structure is more commonly found in non-profit organisations where the person is the ‘face’ and driving force behind operations of the organisation.

‘Which Type Do We Look Like?’

An assessment process can be undertaken to determine what the current workplace culture is.

Some of the methods commonly used are anonymous employee surveys, observation, interviews, focus groups and customer surveys where applicable.

But What’s Our Workplace

Culture ?

Just like an iceberg the majority of workplace culture is ‘hidden’, it’s the unwritten rules, behaviours and accepted ways of doing things that can be difficult to identify, but it’s these intangible aspects of workplace cultural ‘norms’ that can be the most detrimental and the hardest to change.

What are some examples ?

The Seen & Unseen Culture ?

Once a good understanding of what the workplace culture looks like has been achieved the aspects of the current culture that have been identified as being detrimental or that need to be improved can then be addressed through the use of change management techniques.

Our Workplace Culture is…..

What now?

Changing a Workplace Culture takes time, there are no ‘quick fixes’ and as widespread cultural change is notoriously hard to achieve it is recommended that only the most critical cultural changes are attempted first.

As the culture change filters down to the individual employee level and it becomes established as the new cultural ‘norm’ other less critical cultural changes can be implemented.

So, how do we go about implementing a workplace culture change? …..

So Where Do We Start?

Widely accepted as an effective technique for change management is John Kotter’s ‘8 Steps to Successful Change Management’

1. Create a sense of urgency

2. Pull together the Guiding Team

3. Develop the Change Vision & Strategy

4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy-in

5. Empower Others to Act

6. Produce Short-Term Wins

7. Don’t Let Up

8. Making the Change Stick

The ‘Nut’s & Bolt’s

1. Create a sense of urgency

There must be a clear and compelling reason for cultural change, for example:

The organisation has been working the same way for so long that it’s become detrimental to the company’s ability to adapt to marketplace changes and to being competitive within it’s industry environment.

Merger with another company requires two different workplace cultures to be amalgamated into one that is healthy to the continued growth and productivity of the organisation

The ‘8 Steps’

2. Pull Together the Guiding Team

Cultural change must be enacted from the top down, therefore the senior executive team must take ownership for driving the change and be committed to consistently and obviously modelling the cultural shift they want to see in others, to ‘walk the talk’ otherwise it will be viewed by employees as just another company ‘fad’, that has no real substance.

The ‘8 Steps’

3. Develop the Change Vision and Strategy.

A clear and unambiguous vision & strategy statement developed that explains why the culture change is needed, how it aligns with the corporate vision and mission and how it’s going to be undertaken and the expected benefits to both the organisation and to employees.

The ‘8 Steps’

4. Communicate for Understanding and Buy-In.

Take the time and make the effort to communicate the cultural change vision & strategy to all employee’s, encourage feedback and suggestions to gain buy-in and ensure the change strategy is flexible enough to adapt & incorporate any useful contributions from employees.

Workshops or team building activities that focus on the behaviours & values that are desired in the new cultural shift. Slogans on company literature or other items that encapsulate the new culture. Discuss in daily conversations, demonstrate the new culture in every activity undertaken.

The ‘8 Steps’

5. Empower Others to Act

Recognise and reward people for making the cultural change happen. Look for the ‘resisters’ and take the time to help them see the reasons for the change.

Remove any obstacles that are hindering the change, ie outdated or contradictory procedures or structures.

The ‘8 Steps’

6. Produce Short-Term Wins

Cultural change can be given a ‘jump start’ by addressing the tangible components of the change strategy, for instance the re-organisation of the office layout, goals that can be achieved early and with visible success will help keep the momentum going and can help sway the ‘detractors’ to come onboard.

The ‘8 Steps’

7. Don’t Let Up

Don’t lose focus or your change process will ‘run out of steam’, cultural change takes time and the commitment to the change process must not become stalled or die off over time. Continuous support by the organisations leaders will ensure that the cultural shift becomes the new norm and that it doesn’t revert back to the old pattern of undesirable culture.

The ‘8 Steps’

8. Making the Change Stick

Make the new culture part of every aspect of the organisation, to recruitment, processes, performance appraisals, and company core values. Make sure that everyone ‘walks the talk’.

The ‘8 Steps’

Affecting a cultural shift in the workplace is one of the most difficult change processes an organisation can undertake. Being able to accurately & honestly evaluate the current culture is highly important to being able to successfully initiate a workplace culture change.

Equally important is management’s commitment to the change process and they’re ability to sustain that commitment over the period required to engender a cultural shift; this is key to a successful outcome. Without these two factors in place at the start of the process there is a high probability of failure.

In Summary

Careful planning, ensuring a high

level of employee ‘buy in’,

recognising & celebrating the

achievements at each stage,

clear and regular communication

and most importantly of all

‘Walking the Talk’ will help make

the culture change in the

workplace an achievable reality.

In Summary