You're struggling to drive culture change. How can you inspire employees to take charge?

Visionen sind Landebahnen für Ziele. Nicht jeder Mensch kann etwas mit Visionen anfangen, die meisten aber mit Zielen. Daher ist es sehr wichtig, Visionen auf konkrete Ziele herunterzubrechen. Diese Ziele sollten mit den Werten der Organisation und der einzelnen Mitglieder übereinstimmen. Machen wir uns nichts vor: Menschen sind immer auch kleine Egoisten. Daher muss ein Ziel auch klar die Frage beantworten, was für die einzelnen Teammitglieder dabei vorteilhaft ist. Ein Ziel, das für den Einzelnen keine Vorteile erkennen l?sst, wird nicht oder nur sehr wenig verfolgt werden. Berücksichtigt man diese Aspekte und kommuniziert man sie klar verst?ndlich, ist eine Grundlage für Ver?nderung geschaffen.

Driving culture change in an organization can be challenging, but inspiring employees to take charge is key to making it successful. I see two actions on top of all: Clear communication and Leading by example. Communicate a clear vision and purpose behind the culture change is essential: employees need to understand the "why" behind the change to feel motivated and aligned with the organization's goals. In combo what leaders do is key as people look at them. Leaders and managers should embody the values and behaviors they want to see in the organization. This sets a precedent and shows that culture change is taken seriously from the top down.

Driving culture change starts with clear values, strong leadership, and active employee engagement. When everyone feels connected to the mission, they become part of the success. These efforts require a strategic and intentional approach, a commitment from leadership, and active participation from all levels of the organization.

Always remember for people to be excited and engaged with culture change, they must be part of the change. As people, we often fear change, especially when the culture is thrust upon us…we want to be part of the culture we create.

Driving culture change is tough, but it starts with inspiration, not mandates. To truly inspire your team, you need to walk the talk—demonstrate the values and behaviors you want to see. Open up communication channels, invite feedback, and celebrate small wins that align with the desired culture. Empower employees by giving them ownership in the change process, making them feel invested. When they see that culture isn’t just a top-down directive but a SEE DO ACT shared mission, they’re more likely to take charge and drive it forward themselves.

My adding would be to listen with an open heart not only to what is being said but also to what is not being said. At the bottom of many behaviours there is fear from the unknown. Sometimes people express a certain concern, however with careful listening we may find that it sits on a deeper concern of the unknown.

I believe that one of the most important thing when driving a culture change in an organization is to engage your employees from the start. Give them an opportunity to help you define the vision, the mission and the values that you want them to live by. By doing so it will be much easier for your employees to embrace and lead the change because it will be aligned with their personal values. The second important thing is that as leaders, we should demonstrate the behaviors and attitudes we want to see in our employees. It sets a powerful example for everyone. And thirdly is open and honest communication. We should encourage feedback and ensure employees feel heard. Town hall meetings and an open door policy are a good way to start.

It’s easy to complicate culture however it is in essence all about group behaviour. How a collection of individuals behave in the context of the business they represent. Behavioural challenges are the expressions of beliefs which are the expression of what so the key is to understand what those in a business believe about the business and it’s vision and to find their personal anchors. Everyone in any business is ultimately running WIFM (What’s in it for me) so unless they believe it’s possible to get what they want within the business, they’re going to look elsewhere at some point. Vision isn’t just about where the business is heading, it’s about who’s fully onboard. The job of a business is to galvanise the team around a vision & values

To have your team members feel empowered to work to effect the change , the vision that you present must be very clear as must your expectations of the team . Define their role and give them clear process on what they can do to take action if they feel that they are being prevented from taking action that is appropriate to change process. Forums for team members to articulate their actions and any concerns that they may have are extremely helpful . It gives the relevant leaders an opportunity to both support the actions and respond to concerns .

The success of a cultural-change initiative depends on the engagement of employees. Before asking employees to engage, you must first set the stage. Engaging employees is the 4th step in the change process. First, you need to create a motivating strategy, set up the support structure, and train leaders. When employees see their leaders set an example of change, improve the workplace culture, and remove inhibitors, most employees ask to join the change effort. At this point, we implement a 1-day employee engagement program to inspire employees to take on their role in the change effort. Immediately after the program, we usually see a “pop” in performance due to the motivation of employees and increased effectiveness of their leaders.

Culture change is never easy and often organisations loose sight along the way of what they first set out to achieve. It cannot just be about 'words'; action must follow, that means investment in time, training and resources. Work with leaders to help them understand how they can support and lead from the top and enable people the time to use these resources, attend training and to also consider how to maintain the momentum. It shouldn't be a case of 'we sent everyone on a course so now the culture will change' - need to consider what's next? How do we embed learning? How can we show confidence in staff? How do we enable people to feel valued? How do we learn to move forward and grow as a whole...? Support staff to develop confidence.

To help your employees lead culture change, clear away any obstacles that get in their way. Give them clear actions to take, along with the resources, training, and support they need to try out new ideas. Encourage them to take risks and learn from mistakes without worrying about being punished. Talk to them in a positive, clear way, and show them how their efforts are really making a difference in creating a better culture. When they see that their work matters and they have the freedom to make decisions, they’ll be more likely to step up and drive change.

Empowerment should be supported by experience and leading by example. Once people voluntarily, hook onto a C-suite role model, empowerment becomes a positive and sustainable endeavour.

Show that the desired attitudes and behaviours are being rewarded through whatever means makes most sense in your organisation, e.g.: - People are promoted for not jus tthe results they achieve, but how they achieve them (in terms of behaviour - Compensation and bonuses - Opportunities for professional development, training, stretch assignments You can also introduce rewards that specifically reinforce the culture you're building: values awards, wellness awards, customer-focus awards etc. Whatever you do, ensure it is visibly fair, inclusive and consistent.

Reward should be genuine and specific. Care should be taken not to 'rotate' rewards in a misguided attempt to 'keep the whole team happy.'

Communication is two-way. It will be important, nay, imperative to share the anticipated changes, to explain the process, the rationale and the anticipated benefits and outcomes. However, it is also important to effect positivity and a shared vision, to listen, engage with everyone, to ensure they feel heard, valued and a real and significant part of the organisation. Team effort, team discussions,team appreciation alongside individual, personalised awareness.

Various communication channels make messages and news interesting. What I found useful, was to do a survey and establish the best medium and frequency.

A verdade é que estamos sempre em movimento, mudando e por isso é essencial, e diria que até natural, que a comunica??o seja fator fundamental para garantir o engajamento das pessoas para atingir o resultado esperado. E quando falo de comunica??o, claro que n?o estou falando de e-mail! Sim, ele faz parte, mas n?o pode ser só isso. Em cada organiza??o a melhor ferramenta se difere, por isso encontre o que faz mais sentido pra sua cultura, mas lembre-se sempre de colocar os colaboradores no centro dessa mudan?a. Reuni?es individuais, em equipe, por área, redes sociais, televis?o, WhatsApp, concursos e campanhas, champions da cultura, s?o algumas ferramentas que podem apoiar muito esse processo de clareza E direcionamento!

Effective communication is the lifeblood of any culture change initiative. Keep employees informed about progress, challenges, and the vision ahead. Transparency builds trust and fosters alignment. Use multiple channels—meetings, emails, and informal check-ins—to ensure your message is consistent and frequent. When employees are regularly updated, they feel more engaged and understand their role in driving the change. Frequent communication reinforces the shared goals and encourages active participation in the cultural shift.

There was not an option for ‘something else’ and this is the closest topic.. Engaging naysayers and their opinion is crucial. Not just for by-in, but you will find a ton of uncomfortable truths that need fixing from those who do not mind saying it. Re-checking the need to ‘change’ vs ‘evolve’ is key. Is it a change or something already in the plan, just with new people onboard? How do you bring people in during a period of evolution in the business? It’s a combination of ensuring all stakeholders know the vision, accept that there may be curve balls, and regular reminders, updates and mechanisms for new hires to educate are in place, and those who are returning to the business after a leave of absence

Yes, culture change is a marathon! We have to keep at it and keep trying again and again and keep the interest alive! Culture building is about building. It is not a quick fix.

To keep the culture change going, you need to keep up the effort. It’s interesting to know that it takes about 66 days for a new habit to stick, which is why checking in on your strategies regularly is so important. If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to adjust. Get new employees involved in the culture change right from the start—new energy can make a big difference. Remember, small, consistent steps can lead to bigger changes over time. Culture change is more like a marathon than a sprint, so staying focused will help everyone stay motivated to keep going.