THE CULTURE OF
IMPROVEMENT
Peter A. Johnson / Fairday Research Limited
People ≠technology
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Human and social functioning:
Fuzzy, nebulous and difficult to predict
No single model of human behaviour
Contextual, complex and contingent
No easy answers
Changing behaviour and mindset is not easy
But it is achievable
Using the research evidence helps
IT pros love DIY – don’t!
Joined-Up Thinking
Reputation
Commitment
TrainingLearning Performance
Retention
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Autonomy
Job Design
Culture
Motivation
Goal Setting
SelectionJob satisfaction
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What is culture? Some definitions
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Shared
Understandings
Meanings
Values
SymbolsObjects
Practices Customs
Traditions
Histories
Myths
Habits
Norms
Rites
Rituals
Beliefs
Identity
Purpose
Direction
MANIFESTATIONS
What is culture? Schein (1985)
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VALUES
UNDERLYING
ASSUMPTIONS
What is Culture? Martin (2002)
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Three theoretical perspectives of organisational culture
Integration Differentiation Fragmentation
Organisation-wide
consensus
Sub-cultural
consensus
No consensus
The experts themselves don’t agree!
Is culture ‘shared’ across an organisation?
Is it unique to each organisation?
How best to study it?
Culture change?
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Some warn of the risks of attempting culture change
Need to understand the culture first
Organisations are complex social systems
Tinkering can be ‘dangerous’
Why not change other aspects
Climates
For Service, For Innovation
Empowerment / Autonomy
Factors that improve staff support for change
CSI ultimately means change
Organisational Climate
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Different to culture
Staff perceptions of the manifestations of culture
E.g. Reactions to rewards for good service
Easily measurable
Have defined relationships with valuable outcomes
E.g. Climate for service linked to customer satisfaction
Climate for innovation linked to innovation
Example: Data Dashboard Service
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AnyCo PLC supplied a data dashboard service
Manual production + resource intensive
Customers sought enhancements
Example: Why no improvement?
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Individual Organisation Solution?
Manager doesn’t
understand the technology
well enough
Too hierarchical: ‘Good ideas can only
come from managers’Empowerment, autonomy
Selection: person-job fit? Selection philosophy
Techies: large effort
required to sell the changes
to management
Change is a top-down process Empowerment, autonomy
Climate for innovation Climate change
Techies: few benefits from
driving change
Climate for innovation Climate change
Too hierarchical – rewards for
improvement go to managers
Empowerment,
responsibility, autonomy
Manager / Techies: Not
focused on customer
Climate: Lack of senior focus on service Climate change
Selection: Lack of customer focused staff Selection philosophy
Successful organisations
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Empowerment & autonomy
‘Good ideas come from anywhere’
Those who innovate given responsibility & rewards for their
innovations
Climate for innovation
All staff involved in solving organisational problems
Climate for service
Employees rewarded for giving good service
The Science: Resistance To Change
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Traditional research approach
Resistance reduced by
Individual factors:
Organisational commitment
A personality that’s open to change
Organisational factors
Leader – member relations
Climates
Trust in management
Change-specific factors
Staff appraisal of gains & losses from change
Information about change
Participation in change
The Science: Employee Support
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More recent approach
Anticipated benefits and commitment to change helped by
Autonomy (empowerment / responsibility)
Personal initiative and proactivity
Confidence in ability to go beyond defined job role
Autonomy
Proactivity
Role Breadth
Confidence
Anticipated
Benefits
Commitment
Hornung & Rousseau 2007
Empowerment / Autonomy
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As practiced by Google
20% of staff time is free from management control
Some major innovations born in these periods
Evidence to suggest links between autonomy
Support for change
Innovation
Motivation
Job satisfaction
Itself linked to commitment
Selection influences culture
New staff can bring new influences
Carefully analyse the job and person specification
Not only technical ability - human factors too
Analysis & selection techniques include:
Job analysis
Person analysis
Assessment methods
Counter-productive to select and promote based on
Cliques, or whether the face fits alone
The Science: Selection
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Act: Create a climate for service
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Services are produced and consumed simultaneously
Can’t be controlled in the same way as physical products
Climate for service excellence produced by:
Staff well-being & sense of community
Organisational focus upon
customer retention
staff quality
resources needed to deliver great service
Act: Create a climate for innovation
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Provide emotional & financial support for innovation
E.g. Assign time for employees to develop innovations
Ensure staff are in touch with users of products & understand their needs
Assess demand & support demand
Put procedures in place to allow innovations to be adopted
Step-by-step implementation processes
Allow evaluations and adjustments
Act: Empower the staff
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Accept that change can be bottom-up
Give responsibility to staff
Provide only minimal and critical
specification of work
Flatten hierarchies where possible
Accept that everyone in your
organisation can be a source of ideas
and initiatives
Act: Remember, selection is key
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Contractors, permies, managers, team members
All contribute to the culture of your organisation
Decide what’s important beyond technical ability
Autonomy has benefits when the right people are in
situ
Work identity / work significance = satisfaction
Use techniques to help specify the right people
Understand where you want to go
And the type of person who will help take you there
The Culture of Improvement
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Ideas for improvement not just top down
Foster and reward service innovation
Foster and reward great service
Empower and offer responsibility to staff
Select the right people into roles
Managers: your actions speak louder than talk
Remember there’s science here to help
Q&A
Thanks for listening
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Further Reading
Fairtlough, G. (2005) The Three Ways Of Getting Things Done. Dorset: Triarchy Press
Hornung, S., & Rousseau, D. M. (2007). Active on the job – Proactive in change. The Journal of Applied Behavioural Science 43, 401-426
Jia, R., Reich, B. H., Pearson, M. J. (2008). IT service climate: An extension to IT service quality research. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 9, Art. 13
Martin, J. (1995). The style and structure of cultures in organizations: Three Perspectives. Organizational Science, 6, 230-232
Schein, E. H. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychologist, 45, 109-119
Schneider, B., Gunnarson, S. K., Niles-Jolly, K. (1994). Creating the climate and culture of success. Organizational Dynamics, 23, 17-29
Schulte, M., Ostroff, C., Schmulyian, S., Kinicki, A. (2009). Organizational climate configurations: Relationships to collective attitudes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 618-634
van Dam, K., Oreg, S., Shyns, B. (2008). Daily work contexts and resistance to organisational change: The role of leader-member exchange, development climate, and change process characteristics. Applied Psychology 57, 313-334
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