Can corporate culture be changed using change management techniques

1. Can Change Management Techniques
Change Workplace Culture?
Presenter: Rosalie Cuy

2. 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, j
argon 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)

3. What is ‘Workplace Culture’?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s
O2vNyBroco&feature=related
Let’s take a few minutes to learn about Workplace
Culture (also known as Corporate Culture)

4. Why is it important?
 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.

5. ‘Types of Workplace Cultures’
Most organisations overall workplace cultures will
fall into 1 of 4 different cultural structures:
1.Power Culture
2.Role Culture
3.Task Culture
4.Person Culture

6. ‘Which Type Do We Look Like?’
 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.

7. But What’s Our Workplace Culture ?
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.

8. The Seen & Unseen 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 ?

9. Our Workplace Culture is…..
What now?
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.

10. So Where Do We Start?
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? …..

11. The ‘Nut’s & Bolt’s
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

12. The ‘8 Steps’
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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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’.

20. In Summary
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.

21. 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.