By Corinne Canter
Consultant, Human Synergistics Australia and New Zealand
When we at Human Synergistics decided that the theme for this year’s conference would be “The one thing I wish everyone knew about culture” I thought long and hard about what my ‘one thing’ was.
What I have learned about what works and doesn’t work in culture change can be summed up this way: Culture is a movement, not a program.
It is an idea that is beginning to get some traction, with Harvard Business Review publishing an article earlier this year by Brian Walker and Sarah Soule.
It puts forward the view that changing an organisation’s culture has much in common with creating a social movement and is better activated through the hearts and minds of employees rather than just through a top down mandate.
For many, many years - leaders and consultants alike have been very fond of quoting the old adage that “A fish rots from the head” meaning that if a CEO and their team do not support culture change then it cannot happen.
I basically agree but here’s the thing… a fish actually rots from its gut, from the inside out.
Extending the metaphor of our poor rotten fish, I think about the guts being the internal working of the organisation ‘its body’. At its core are people. The employees of an organisation.
Leaders, systems, and processes all play an important role in creating change but all three levers are essentially designed to channel the efforts of their people into a high positive impact for all stakeholders.
While the ‘top down’ approach still plays a key role, limiting cultural change to leader led mandates can reinforce a hierarchical compliance approach to culture rather than unleashing the potential already inherent in people themselves.
When I work with CEOs and executive teams I make this case with one simple question: “Is your job easier when your people want to do theirs?” … of course it is.
I believe culture change can be accelerated by activating the passion and pride inherent in all of your employees.
I have changed how I work to support leaders create a positive cultural movement for change .Here are my top 10 tips for creating a cultural movement.
1. Get employees involved early and often ,include their ideas and views about what’s important and the kind of future state that would energize them and get the best from them given the organisation's direction and strategy.
2. Create a compelling story with them and for them about why change is important. Make it personal and personal to them. If the story is all about how the organisation benefits, your people won’t feel included or important. Why should they then give you their discretionary effort?
3. Less talk about change and more talk about the need to keep growing
4. Understand the value of symbolic as well as substantive changes. It can take a long time to change some of the underlying drivers of culture so 'cosmetic' or symbolic changes like adapting the physical environment, roadshows can be a useful sign that things are changing. I call these symbolic because while they don't do the heavy lifting required in creating meaningful change they can help signal that something positively different is coming. Be aware to make them part of a bigger strategy not the strategy itself!
5. Ensure your ‘change management’ strategy role models the culture you want to create, rather than reinforcing the one you’ve got!
6. Look for existing examples of excellence and shine a light on these examples.
7. Start cross functional projects that put your values to work and demonstrate them in action – direct experience of what’s possible is highly compelling
8. Reverse mentor leaders – this needs to be done with care ensuring that the power dynamic doesn’t run interference with the idea. Pair a few members of your front line with one leader.
9. Develop a campaign that speaks to potential and WIFU (What’s In It For Us – you and me)
10. Create a ripple effect by establishing networks and groups of employees.
Leaders will always be important to creating and sustaining culture change but so are employees.