Demystifying culture change

We’ve been involved in our fair share of culture change programmes over the years, some triggered by the arrival of a new CEO, others a strategy pivot thanks to global economic challenges, then there are the new product and service launches and shifts to customer-centric organisations.

And while the catalyst for change might vary, there is one constant - the almost universal agreement that culture change is tough. I suspect we all have our own stories to tell and stats like ‘2/3 of all culture change programmes fail’ don’t help the culture change brand either.

We can’t solve the culture change challenge in one newsletter, but it is worth spending time and energy to exploring it from different angles. That’s why we’re dedicating the next few blogs and newsletters to all things culture change, so make sure you’re signed up to get the latest thinking straight into your inbox here.

Back to today, and why don’t we start with the executive team, and think about their role in driving culture change programmes, and what that means for Learning & Development?

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Is the executive team all on the same page?

It might sound like we’re stating the obvious when we say that the senior leadership team has a critical role to play in making sure culture change reaches all corners of the organisation, but obvious doesn’t mean easy or straightforward. And without solid foundations and a unified approach, cracks will quickly appear, and the change programme will struggle before it’s got off the blocks. So when we say ‘critical role’, what do we mean exactly?

1. The senior team needs to be on the same page, and that means being able to clearly articulate the desired vision, the enabling culture for the organisation and the rationale behind it. They also need to be able to explain what that means for employees and customers, not just the bottom-line and shareholder value.
2. Behaviour change starts with the senior leadership team, and that means agreeing what those ideal behaviours look like. Then they need to start role-modelling them consistently – back to everyone being on the same page. There might be a named culture change sponsor on the exec, but everyone is accountable.
3. Learning and Development must be empowered to design and deliver a programme that will drive the desired culture change and that leaves participants feeling like it’s been valuable - time well spent. Crucially, that might mean doing things differently, like giving leaders the time and space to develop and practice new behaviours with their team. Experimenting and developing while working is a brilliant way to embed long-lasting change – we call it ‘Doing to learn’.

What does that mean for Learning & Development?

With all this in mind, what does that mean for the people responsible for designing and delivering the change programme?

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• Think ‘top down led, bottom up built’ - where the senior exec providing the rationale for change – the ‘why and what’ if you like, while empowering and trusting business unit leaders and their teams to drive the ‘how’.
• Bring the learning development ‘experience’ and space for leaders to ‘practice’ the new behaviours as close together as possible to create momentum.
• Champion great conversations and equip your leaders with the skills to have them with their teams - not just about the work but how the team works together too.?

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Culture Change – Models and Mindsets for success: a research project with LSE

We’re all about pooling our knowledge and learning from each other and we’d love to hear your views on culture change. As luck would have it, we’re launching our 2023 research project with The London School of Economics: Culture Change – models and mindsets for success. ?

The survey should only take a few minutes to complete, and there’s an option to be interviewed too, just tick the box at the end of the survey and the researchers will be in touch. We’ll share the findings in early Autumn.???

Take the survey?

It’s easy to get carried away with a culture change chat, but we’ll leave it there this month. In April we’ll be exploring what it means to build a learning culture.

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Cheers, Dan

Who are we?

We’re LIW, and we’ve been running leadership programmes for large organisations in Australia, the UK, the USA and across the globe for over 25 years. Our team of more than 80 coaches and facilitators are spread worldwide, supported by the best project managers.

If you need to upgrade the core leadership skills in your organisation, get in touch. We’d love to hear from you and chat about how we can help.