Changing an organisation culture is one of the most difficult leadership roles in organisations because an organisation’s culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles, processes, values and communication programs , attitude, beliefs and assumptions. Culture is not just about one thing.
In any work place all elements fit together as on mutually reinforcing system and naturally combine to prevent any attempt to change. This is why single fix changes may appear to make progress for a while , but eventually interlocking elements of the organisation culture take over and the change is inexorably drawn back into the existing organisational culture. Changing culture of an organisation is a large scale undertaking and all organisational tools for changing minds will need to be put in play. However, the order in which they are deployed has a critical impact on the likelihood of success. Generally, the most fruitful success strategy is to begin with leadership tools. Leadership practises play a central role in achieving the desired change.
Frequent mistakes in trying to change culture have included;
- The overuse of power tools to coerce parties
- Leaders beginning with a vision, but failing to put in place managment tools that will cement the behavioral changes
- Beginning with power tools even before a clear vision or story of the future is in place.
If management is not prepared to experence a complete change / turnaround in them, they should not bother embarking on the change. Management support of the change is critical.They need to Model the way by walking the talk. As change drivers, manages need to be mindful of their ability to influence their teams by pioneering new management skills. Leaders should enable others to act by showing support for changes while demonstrating that support when communicating and interacting with staff. There is nothing worse than sending mixed messages to employees . Treat others with dignity and respect, be preapred to listen to diverse points of view and support staff decisions.
Ability to create a case for change is paramount. Involve employees in the process of identifying the need to change. Employees are typically closest to the processes any way, their involvement and understanding are therefore vital. Employees should feel free to be as candid as possible without the fear of possible victimization. The process will encourage creative thinking that potential derail creative solutions.
When you implement the program, set out timelines and institute follow ups to assess how the change is working.Some changes exceed expected targets but there are occassions that changes just do not work as planned.Publickly acknowldege it and make adjustments until the desired result is achieved.
Inspire a shared vision by enlisting others to share in that dream by breathing life into their own vision , while engaging all people to visualise the possibilities and become excited about the change. When you do so as a leader make sure you build your own persoonal strings by keeping your drive and energy up.Radiate self confidence and regularly ask staff for feedback.Let them all share a common purpose.
If there are any barriers, they could be departmental or other employees or lack of training, get rid of them by availing the needed resources to make it happen.Unnecessary rules and cumbersome reporting processes are not needed . Try and streamline the work wherever you can.
Employees need to be moved out of the comfort zone gently. As employees try, do not blame but rather focus on positives .Human tendency is to play it safe and not take risks. Rather focus on why of the process or plan went wrong not who is responsible.
Continuously encourage the heart, offering praise for a job well done and make it a point to let people know of others’ confidence in other ability. Celebrate the changes no matter how small builds momentum for bigger changes and encouraging other employees wanting to particiapte.
Take a cue from the World Bank which has been trying to effect changes over a period of almost half a centrury under the various leadership.World Bank empirically represents a particular difficult case of organisational culture change.It is argued that its formal goal –development is ambigous .As an institution, it has a peculiar mix of philantrophic foundations initially as university to a bank.As an international organisation, it is also owned by governments of the world.
However, the several change attempts in the institution have provided a blue print to many change attempts. Lessons from the World Bank blueprint among others are:
- Any personal scandals bring change efforts to a screeching halt. Do not create space for your favourites. Relatedly any change process should not be preceded by any reorganisation.Never parachute a new team of top managers , rather work with existing managers and have people who share your vision.
- Instead quickly develop and put in place new systems and processes that support and reinforce your vision of the future drawing on the practices of dynamics linking. Consistently introduce and reinforce the new values of radical transparency and continous improvement and employing horizontal communication and never top down commands(double loop communication ).
Give them all a full picture and not just what you think they need to know. Employees should not be at the mercy of management to inform them of the changes. Poor communication, rumour milling about the change process do create resistance. To successfully communicate use all means, team meetings, emails ,notes staff meeting and memos. Demonstrate your belief in their competence so that they also build trust in themselves to handle the process.
Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at Tel: 263 773004143 or 263 242 772778 or visit our website at www.proservehr.com