How to Change Organizational Culture?
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Introduction:
Organisational culture is critical in shaping an organization's behaviour, attitudes, and values. It can influence how people collaborate, approach their professions, and engage with customers and clients. However, an organization's culture can sometimes become toxic or outdated, impeding its success and progress. Leaders must take aggressive actions to improve the culture in such circumstances. The impact of the COVID epidemic has disrupted traditional work arrangements and resulted in significant changes to how employees interact with one another, emphasising the need for organisations to rethink their cultures. We'll look at how to change organisational culture in this article.
Why is There a Need for Organizational Culture Change?
As the world recovers from the COVID-19 epidemic, business leaders must establish the groundwork for their companies to thrive in a different environment according to Sloanreview (2021). The pandemic drove three interconnected types of transformation affecting every industry:
- Digital technology adoption
- The development of new business models
- The deployment of new working methods
How to Change Organizational Culture
According to workhuman (2022) recognise that culture change is difficult. Some culture transformation principles that will increase your chances of success:
- Create a vision
Consider where you want the organisation to be in the future and what values and behaviours will help you get there.
Are the company's mission statement and core values, for example, in line with this vision? If not, it's time to update these as well. - Form a team of facilitators
You'll need to assemble a team of facilitators to get things moving. This group should be well-represented by top management, various departments, and front-line employees. Facilitators are essential in promoting change. They must model the desired culture and be open to feedback and suggestions. - Set a timeline and a budget
Changes can be small-scale, transitional, or large-scale. Every type necessitates a reasonable timetable for completion. Allow enough time for data collection, feedback, and suggestions because we know that data analysis can be time-consuming. Nonetheless, it is an essential part of the process and will assist you in developing effective measures.
A budget should also be established to fund activities, resources, equipment, and tools. This type of structure will provide the necessary support for any necessary change. - Make use of digital platforms and tools
Workplace environments have changed over time. For instance, digital channels and tools are becoming increasingly popular. They offer physical meeting alternatives, quick communication and information dissemination. Furthermore, they facilitate documentation, data collection, and much more. - Demonstrate leadership
When changing your company's organisational culture, leaders play a critical role. More than just making a few declarations, a leader should be able to influence, rather than impose, change within the organisation.
Employees are also looking for training through modelling. An individual's perception of the culture is influenced by how leaders respond to critical incidents, hire, promote, and excommunicate. - Involve the entire workforce in each step
Culture is a universal phenomenon. As a result, the best way to approach implementation is to involve everyone in the organisation from the beginning.
Employee surveys are an excellent way to accomplish this. Use an employee survey similar to the Survey of Organisations to gather feedback on what employees believe are the most pressing issues that must be addressed. - Effective Diagnosis
Employees must embrace change when leadership believes there is a need for change due to identifying problems such as high turnover or low profits.
If employees perceive the change as arbitrary, sustaining organisational transformation over time will take time. - Making a Plan
While reviewing your current culture, identify the elements in your organisation that are assisting you in reaching your goal. Identify the bad habits and customs holding you back or leading you astray.
How are you able to do this? First, converse with your employees to learn which values they most identify with. These activities can also give you an idea of how much resistance you'll face. - Change implementation
Employees may be involved in developing the change strategy, but keeping them engaged is a different challenge.The first thing you can do is create an environment where they can freely express themselves. Facilitators must be capable of actively listening. Then, as many employee concerns as possible should be addressed so that they feel heard.
Create reward and recognition systems with clear guidelines and metrics to accomplish this. These can be physical. Even a simple act of gratitude can make a big difference. - Follow through
Getting feedback from employees during the implementation process is critical. The collected data can then be analysed and evaluated. How close are you to achieving your goal? Have you reached any milestones? What pitfalls have you encountered, and how did you overcome them?
Small victories are essential, and setbacks provide learning opportunities. Highlight these points and provide updates to the entire organisation. This transparency will bring everyone on the same page and highlight your ongoing commitment to the change.
Why Is It So Difficult To Change Organisational Culture?
An organization's culture is deeply ingrained according to workhuman (2022). Values, beliefs, customs, practises, and processes are intertwined, making true transformation difficult. To change corporate culture, you must break down barriers. Then, to make it stick, follow through regularly.
The human aspect proves to be a significant barrier to implementation. Tenured employees resist change because they have grown accustomed to how things are.
It has the potential to call into question shared behaviour, attitude, contributions, and even the overall employee experience. Furthermore, everyone has a different learning curve. Some people may associate cultural shifts with impending failure or power loss
Why Do Organizational Culture Change Initiatives Fail?
Wanting to change your organization's culture is admirable, but implementing significant change and creating the desired culture is challenging according to workhuman (2022).
It's highly uncommon. According to recent statistics from a global survey conducted by McKinsey (2022), leadership deemed only one-third of efforts to change organisational culture successful.
On average, the 3,199 executives polled spent about six months planning the cultural transformation.
Apart from human resistance, several factors contribute to these failures, including:
- Poor communication
- Lack of collaboration
- Insufficient time
- Insufficient budget
- Poor leadership and support
- Politics within an organisation
Examples of Organisational Culture Changes
It is not possible to switch your organization's culture on and off (Robertson, 2020). After all, culture is created through repeated behaviours over many months or even years. Addressing culture issues can be a tricky subject to bring up if you're not an executive.
Fortunately, there are lots of businesses you can get ideas from. It's critical to promote a culture that is built to last, especially at this time as the world adjusts to a post-COVID reality.
To get you started, consider these three organisational culture change examples:
Salesforce
Salesforce's culture may appear to be relatively subdued at first glance. After all, businesses like Google and Facebook boast lively workplaces and perks like game rooms and complimentary meals. The employee experience Salesforce seeks to offer is one of family and service, though.
Salesforce places a strong emphasis on four values: trust, customer success, innovation, and equality, to make sure everyone feels like a member of the family. Salesforce has committed to closing the pay gap between men and women of different racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds. This last value is more important than ever.
Salesforce identifies four behaviors integrity, transparency, alignment, and accountability as contributing to achieving these values. To maintain a safety, inclusion, and innovation culture, the company promotes open and honest discussion throughout the organisation.
Western Airlines
A famous example of good corporate culture is Southwest Airlines. American airlines were established about 50 years ago. Southwest has maintained its position despite having twice as long as rivals like American Airlines and Delta. And a lot of that success can be attributed to its unique culture.
The notion that employees, not customers, should come first is at the core of Southwest's culture. This might seem counterintuitive to many businesses. Indeed, it should be the other way around! However, Southwest explains that content employees will increase customer satisfaction and business profits.
Conclusion
Organizational culture is a powerful force that can drive an organization's success or hinder its growth. Changing culture can be a challenging and complex process, but with the right strategies, creating a culture that supports your organizational goals and values is possible. By defining the desired culture, involving employees, leading by example, communicating, providing training and support, reinforcing the new culture, and being patient, you can change your organizational culture and achieve long-term success.
How to Change Organizational Culture? Please share your ideas in the comments section.
BCG. (2020) It’s Not a Digital Transformation Without a Digital Culture [online] Available from: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2018/not-digital-transformation-without-digital-culture
[Accessed on 2 April 2023].
McKinsey. (2022). The irrational side of change management | McKinsey. [online] Available from: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-irrational-side-of-change-management [Accessed on 2 April 2023].
Robertson, K. (2020). 3 inspiring organizational culture change examples. [online] Available from: https://www.predictiveindex.com/blog/organizational-culture-change-examples/ [Accessed on 2 April 2023].
Sloanreview. (2021) Why Every Executive Should Be Focusing on Culture Change Now, MIT Sloan Management Review. [online] Available from: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/why-every-executive-should-be-focusing-on-culture-change-now/ [Accessed on 2 April 2023].
Walker, B., & Soule, S. A. (2004). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management: Organizational Behavior. Blackwell Publishing.
Workhuman. (2022). How to Change Organizational Culture in 2023 [online] Available from: https://www.workhuman.com/blog/how-to-change-organizational-culture/. [Accessed on 2 April 2023].
Thank you for your valuable msg. Organizational culture is lead to the company success. Each and every company is having a Organizational culture to achieve the goal.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments.
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ReplyDeleteThis article clearly mentioned how to how to change Organisational culture. Elaborating more How To Change Organizational Culture herewith mentioned some steps.
According to McConnell B., 2022
1. Evaluate Your Current Culture
You need a benchmark to figure out where you stand versus where you need to be in terms of your cultural structure. Evaluate your current infrastructure, values, and objectives. This may involve employee surveys, assessments, learning metrics, and business reports. The point is to analyze every aspect of your culture from
different perspectives.
For instance, how do employees perceive your brand and the workplace, in general? What do customers think of your company and its products or services? Another group to check in with is external partners, such as sales channels who work with your brand but can still offer a third-party perspective.
2. Identify Gaps
Now that you know the current state of things, determine where to go from here. Which gaps do you need to bridge to achieve the new goals and objectives? How do you adapt your existing culture and incorporate the new characteristics or core values? For example, you need to encourage a more collaborative and supportive community. Employees must feel like they’re part of something bigger but that their individual talents are still valued. So, how do you open up the lines of communication and encourage them to share their insights?
3. Create An Organizational Change Team
Changing is a big job and it shouldn’t fall on one person’s shoulders, or even one department, for that matter. Gather a transformation team who can work together to achieve the outcomes and monitor progress. Choose two people from every department who meet once a week to share updates and discuss new ideas. Having a project management tool makes the job easier because all their communications are centralized.
4. Develop A Clear Budget And Schedule
Create a budget and implementation schedule that outlines all the costs and tasks involved. This is yet another reason to have a dedicated team, as you benefit from their insider experience. For instance, one of your HR employees has been involved in culture change transformation before. Thus, they understand the process, hidden fees, and potential delays. Just remember to leave a little room for unexpected costs so that you don’t go over budget.
5. Get Employee Buy-In
Some organizations make the mistake of developing their entire transformation strategy behind closed doors, then doing a big reveal and expecting employees to immediately buy in. In reality, changing corporate culture starts with staffer feedback. They need to know why you’re making the change and their role in the process, as well as what’s expected of them before, during, and after the transition. One of the most effective ways to win them over is to host a live event for full transparency. Tell them about the transition plan and how they can participate.
6. Design Targeted Resources
You can create storyboards, identify key takeaways, and choose the best rapid authoring tool to develop content in-house. Another option is to hire an eLearning content provider to simplify the design process (just make sure their content is compatible with your enterprise LMS). Whatever path you choose, resources need
to be relevant and real-world focused so that employees get the most benefit. For instance, you could develop simulations that teach them how to apply new skills or corporate values in the workplace.
Ridma, I appreciate your comment. It's also very important to Evaluate Current Culture and Identify Gaps during the process.
DeleteChanging organizational culture can be a difficult process, but it is necessary when the culture becomes outdated or toxic. With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are going through transformations and need to create a solid culture to support the change. To change the organizational culture, leaders can follow some principles such as creating a vision, forming a team of facilitators, setting a timeline and budget, making use of digital platforms and tools, demonstrating leadership, involving the entire workforce, effective diagnosis, making a plan, change implementation, and follow-through. Changing organizational culture can be challenging as it is deeply ingrained in an organization, but it is possible with consistent efforts and regular follow-through.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on changing organisational culture. I absolutely agree with your remarks about the significance of developing a vision, assembling a team, establishing a timeframe and budget, and utilising digital technologies to help with the process.
DeleteNice and descriptive article Niluka. Changing the organizational culture can be a complex and challenging process that requires careful consideration and strategic planning. While it may seem like a necessary step towards growth and success, it's important to be aware of the potential disadvantages and obstacles that can arise during this transformation.
ReplyDelete(Reference: Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2006). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework. John Wiley & Sons.)
One potential challenge of changing organizational culture is resistance from employees who are accustomed to the existing culture. Research has shown that employees may resist change due to fear of the unknown, loss of familiarity, or perceived threat to their status or job security (Dent, E. B., & Goldberg, S. G. (1999). Challenging “resistance to change.” Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35(1), 25-41).
Another potential disadvantage of changing organizational culture is the possibility of cultural clashes or conflicts. Organizations with diverse employees from different backgrounds and values may face difficulties in aligning everyone towards a new culture, and this can lead to tension and decreased collaboration (Schneider, B., & Barsoux, J. L. (2003). Managing across cultures. Pearson Education.)
Additionally, changing organizational culture can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. It requires consistent effort and investment in terms of leadership commitment, employee training, and ongoing reinforcement of the desired culture (Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2006). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework. John Wiley & Sons.)
In conclusion, while changing organizational culture can have potential benefits, it's important to be aware of the challenges and potential drawbacks that may arise during the process. Proper planning, communication, and employee involvement can help mitigate these challenges and increase the chances of a successful culture change initiative.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. You raise some valid points about the potential challenges and drawbacks of changing organizational culture, including resistance from employees, cultural clashes, and resource-intensive efforts. However, with proper planning, communication, and employee involvement, these challenges can be mitigated and a successful culture change initiative can be achieved.
DeleteOverall, the academic blog post provides valuable insights into the importance of organisational culture and how to change it effectively. Niluka, you could have included the resistance from employees, the difficulty of aligning different stakeholder interests, or the potential conflicts between the old and new cultures when discussing the challenges. potential risks or unintended consequences of cultural change, such as employee disengagement or loss of institutional memory not discussed.
ReplyDeletewhile the academic blog post provides useful insights into the importance of organisational culture and how to change it, it could benefit from more empirical evidence, a broader perspective, a more detailed discussion of the challenges involved, specific examples, and a discussion of the potential consequences of cultural change.
I appreciate you reading my blog post and providing your insightful comments. You are correct that obstacles to cultural transformation can include employee resistance, balancing the interests of various stakeholders, and potential conflicts between the old and new cultures. Additionally, unforeseen consequences like employee disengagement and the loss of institutional memory can happen. Thus it's crucial to consider these risks when developing and putting into action a cultural change effort.
DeleteI appreciate your proposal to provide more concrete examples and empirical evidence in the blog post to present a more comprehensive view. For upcoming blogs, I'll keep this in mind. Thank you again for your thoughtful comments, and I hope my blog post helped provide a fundamental understanding of how to influence organisational culture.
This article explores the value of corporate culture and why, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may need to be altered in some circumstances. It proposes a number of guidelines for effective culture change, including developing a vision, assembling a team of facilitators, establishing a schedule and budget, employing digital tools, exhibiting leadership, involving the entire workforce, and conducting an accurate diagnostic. The article also highlights how challenging it is to change organisational culture and stresses how crucial consistent follow-through is to making changes stay.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I agree that organizational culture is essential for the success of any company and that the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for adaptability and change.
DeleteThe article discusses the importance of organizational culture in shaping an organization's behavior, attitudes, and values, and the need for leaders to take aggressive actions to improve the culture if it becomes toxic or outdated. The article also highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on traditional work arrangements and the need for organizations to rethink their cultures. The article outlines some culture transformation principles that increase the chances of success when changing organizational culture. These principles include creating a vision, forming a team of facilitators, setting a timeline and a budget, making use of digital platforms and tools, demonstrating leadership, involving the entire workforce in each step, effective diagnosis, making a plan, change implementation, and follow through. The article also explains why it is challenging to change organizational culture, as values, beliefs, customs, practices, and processes are intertwined, making true transformation difficult.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful response to the article. I appreciate your recognition of the importance of organisational culture in influencing an organization's behaviour and values and the need for leaders to take action to enhance it when needed. The article presents realistic cultural change concepts while acknowledging the difficulties in achieving true transformation. I appreciate and value your feedback.
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