To transform the culture of an organization, it is recommended to pay attention to aspects such as your current situation, what can be achieved, who is going to carry it out, what is the time for its execution, how to assign responsibilities, how are your results to be measured, as well as the training.
A culture is the sum of all employee behaviors. Transforming it, implies that employees change – up to a certain point – the way they behave.
In order to successfully transform any culture and improve employee performance and participation, there are eight key areas in which it is necessary to focus (and answer some questions):
1. Where are we now?
- How would you describe your employees and their culture today?
- How would you like to be characterized after the transformation?
- Why is the transformation important?
2. How can we achieve it?
- Through a strategy that provides confidence to all those who will be affected, that allows to see that the result is attainable and that each step is well thought and will produce the desired result.
- A strong plan includes aspects such as predetermined checkpoints, realignment of priorities, and communication with stakeholders.
3. Who leads the transformation?
- An initiative of this scale must come from the top of the organization and flow from downwards.
- Senior managers should be visible examples of what is required and should articulate to communicate the fundamentals and commit to the plan until the necessary behavioral changes have taken place.
4. How long will it take?
- Companies see changes within six months, but long-term behavior changes require two to three years.
- The factors that determine the time needed include the degree of change in behavior required, the number of people in the organization, and the complexity of the initiative.
5. Who is responsible of what?
While everyone plays an important role in transforming the culture of a company, there are four fundamental groups:
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Superior administration. This group leads the transformation “behind the scenes” and lives the transformation in their daily work. It must promote the change with a consistent coherence until the end. - The team in charge of executing the plan. This group is in charge of communication, training, and alignment of human resources, measurement and support for senior management.
- Line managers. A successful cultural transformation necessarily involves training the talent of this group to adopt the changes for themselves and then help their subordinates do the same.
- The remaining population of employees. This group needs to be trained with the skills and behaviors that are required to achieve success.
6. Is training necessary?
- Since a culture is the result of what people do, employees need to be shown what and how to change.
- Choose training that involve and impact specific groups within the organization, such as experiential learning.
7. How to measure success?
- The first and most important thing is to analyze which results need improvement and then monitor how those measures improve.
- Secondly, the employee survey information allows knowing aspects such as the level of commitment, the understanding of logic, the degree of leadership modeling and the effectiveness of training. These metrics allow an organization to make changes to the plan along the way, when the results are not as expected.
Available at: Talent Economy
