A couple of months ago I wrote a blog post on the topic of changing corporate culture. I almost always get 20-50 responses to every blog post I write, but this topic was hot. Within a few weeks I had more than 500 comments to this post and they continue to trickle in. The comments, ideas and insights were amazing, and I hope at some point to pull out the common themes and document them in an article.
Let’s begin with a definition of corporate culture. In general terms it is often expressed as “the way we do things around here.” It’s the rules, procedures and processes that govern how things get done, as well as the philosophy that guides the attitudes and behaviors of the company’s executives and employees.
You can’t change what you haven’t defined. Before considering making changes, first define your current culture. Recently one of my clients discussed changing his company’s culture. We stared by exploring how they defined their current corporate culture. I heard phrases such as no one is accountable, we make too many mistakes, people don’t care about the company, we keep shifting our priorities, our employees think only about their jobs and not how it affects others in the company, we aren’t quick enough to respond to or we move too fast and don’t analyze enough…and the list went on. What made this exercise fascinating was that many of the phrases they used were really challenges the company faced that they attributed to the culture. As I sat there listening I found myself wondering if the challenges companies face are the result of their corporate culture or the other way around? Do these challenges and problems exist because we have poorly defined the culture, or do they exist because the culture we created promotes them?
I suspect it could be either. If we do not define “how things get done around here” and share this with our staff, then they are left to make their own decisions about what they do and how they do it. And if we allow certain behaviors and attitudes to continue, by default they define the culture. If you don’t communicate specifically and implicitly to your staff your philosophy, your beliefs, your values, the rules and the way you want people to think and behave, how would they know? Without direction, people will do what is most natural and comfortable for them. For example, if you accept every customer without any criteria other than they are willing to pay you, then the message your sales team hears is: “All business is good business, regardless of how we get it.” Price, ethics, caustic clients…nothing is part of their decision-making process except get the client.
What often happens is the leader’s views change over time but they neglect to share this with their staff. In the above example, as the company grew all business was no longer considered good business, but the message didn’t get communicated. Frustration with the sales team bubbled up: Why are they willing to cut prices all the time? Why don’t they go after higher-end customers?…and they attributed this to laziness, lack of concern for the company, an unwillingness to do the tough stuff, etc. The outgrowth of this was that they defined their corporate culture through this lens of frustration.
More about this in future articles, but a final thought: If you want to figure out how to change corporate culture at your company, first define your current culture. Then determine if it exists because you have not adequately communicated your expectations, values and beliefs. It may be that it does not need an overhaul at all. It may be that communication is what needs overhauling.
© 2014 Incedo Group, LLC
