What is your role in a cultural change?

A cultural change journey is something that most companies go through, and usually not just once. It is a well-researched subject with a wealth of supporting literature and rigorous frameworks for handling it.

The most common causes of change failures are also widely known: lack of vision, inability to instill a sense of urgency, inadequate communication and people resistance, just to mention a few (see link 1 below).

So, changing an organizational culture ought to be simple if you know what to do and what could go wrong, right? False: it is really challenging. So challenging that research has revealed that over 70% of transformation initiatives fail (see link 2 below). Where then are the issues?

Once, after participating in a Top Management presentation of the expected new organizational culture, I had an interesting discussion with some colleagues about the new values communicated and how they would have fit into the new business strategy. One of the people in the room said something that struck me: "now I'm curious to see what they [the Top Management] will do next to make this happen".

It was an interesting statement because, technically speaking, the response to that question is pretty straightforward: they will take some of the measures advised by the aforementioned frameworks. They will establish a proper communication, conduct targeted training sessions, designate Change Agents/Champions, etc.?

And so, a question arose in my mind: “what can we do next?”.

I personally believe that the answer to this is not obvious, and the evidence is the fact that the typical recommendations mentioned in organizational change management methodologies primarily refer to top-down actions that top/senior/middle management should implement, without providing the vast majority of the organization (i.e., all non-management staff) with any very specific guidance other than the expectation that they will embrace the change.

I therefore tried to compile a list of steps that, in my opinion, everyone should take in order to be a proactive Change Agent with a constructive and entrepreneurial approach. Here it is:

• Study the new culture mandate in depth and own it. If the Company is serious about the cultural change, you should be serious too, because it is an opportunity. Read carefully through any documentation provided and visualize how shifting behavior toward the desired direction will benefit* the Customer, the Company and, therefore, yourself: if changing culture will be positive for you, there really is no excuse not to be committed to change
• Act as required and make sure to be seen. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I am quite sure yes, but I wonder who will ever notice. Team meetings or regular alignments in one-to-one sessions with your manager are good places to promote how you are complying with what the Top Management requested
• Remove obstacles. People are willing to change if the benefits of the new vision are clear, but it is possible that the organization itself will try to maintain the status quo for a variety of reasons (e.g., fear of losing power/influence, processes that do not fully support the new approaches). Talking directly to the source of the problem is wise and the first solution to consider, but in the (very) worst-case scenario, hierarchical escalations or even whistleblowing remain viable options: at the end of the day, you have to do what the Top Management asked
• Make certain that your efforts are rewarded. Change is difficult, and the company is asking you to put in extra effort on top of your regular duties for it. Therefore, you have every right to request to be assessed and have your end-of-year appraisal tied to it, providing you with additional motivation to change your behavior
• Promote the new culture to your co-workers. If the Company's results are dependent (also) on the implementation of the new culture, it is in your best interest to have as many people on board as possible. Showing your commitment in daily work life (for example, during everyday meetings) or even using informal chat at the coffee machine can aid to the spread of the new attitudes

I am sure there are also other ways to be proactive in a cultural change journey and I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter, as I believe that focusing more on the "people angle" would undoubtedly make changes a smoother process: everyone would feel accountable for the achievement of the final goal and this would result in a commitment to the success at scale.

I will leave here below the links to some additional articles that you may find interesting:

1. Why corporate culture change fail
2. Changing Change Management
3. Company’s strategy and culture needs to fit together
4. Typical mistakes in organizational change
5. Change Management roles in Prosci methodology
6. Organizational culture definition

(*) I am referring to benefits in general, not necessarily monetary benefits. They could be positive social impacts, collective opportunities/advancements, and so on.

#culture #culturechange #hr #people #peopleandculture #changemanagement #leadership