It is not unusual to hear the words, “We really need to change the way we do things around here.”  That’s a good way to say, we need to change our culture to aid our business performance. But changing culture is easier said than done … it really is a Red Zone maneuver.

A Definition of Culture Change

Everybody has at least one loved one who’s historically hard to buy gifts for. My wife is one of those people. When birthdays and anniversaries roll around, I’m often roaming the aisles at local department and jewelry stores. The salesperson inevitably asks, “What are you looking for today?” At that moment, it’s just not something I can easily put into words. So I respond, “I can’t explain it exactly, but I’ll know it when I see it.” Organizational culture is not unlike that, hard to describe but important none the less.

In a 1998 article on “The Integration Challenge” in Management Review, Tom Davenport defines culture as “the DNA of an organization, invisible to the naked eye, but critical in shaping the character of the workplace. It controls the form and function of what the organization ends up being.” In an observation that appeared in “Irreconcilable Differences” in the April 1999 issue of HR Magazine, Mitchell Lee Marks, author of Joining Forces: Making One Plus One Equal Three in Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances, suggests that on a very practical level culture is “a lot like breathing. You don’t think about it, you just do it. But, if I covered your mouth with my hand, you’d be thinking about breathing.”

“Official” cultures in most organizations evolve from a set of principles developed and promulgated by the founders and passed on by subsequent leaders. These principles acquire shades of meaning over time as the firm meets challenges and launches major projects, a sort of corporate genealogy replete with personalities and corporate folklore. Organizations have unwritten rules for  how employees, without any direction, would automatically act under varying conditions. These unwritten rules are based on and reinforced by acts, thoughts and perceptions and passed along among rank and file workers over time. When employees behave in conformance with the rules and customs, they are accepted by the organization. When they don’t, they receive some form of social sanction ranging from dis-inclusion and direct feedback to a lower (or no) raise or bonus, lack of promotion or termination.

Click to continue reading about:

  Changing Corporate Culture

  10 step Red Zone Game Plan for Changing Corporate Culture

  Executive Roles for Changing Corporate Culture

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Our Culture Change Services

Our culture change services are based on a number of assumptions:

1. We assume that the working definition of corporate culture is “the way we do things around here.”
2. We assume that when company leadership says they believe a culture change is needed, they mean “we need to change the way we do things around here in order to have better organizational performance.”
3. We assume that company leadership does not mean to “change everything we do around here.”
4. We assume that the way things are done in the organization is “rewarded” or those specific ways would not be repeated and become a part of culture.
5. We believe the key to culture change is to identify the desired “way we want to do things around here for better performance” and then to implement those new ways through sound change management principles.

Our Services 

Holland & Davis provides complete culture change services from targeting culture to evaluation of culture implementation.

1. Identifying the Desired Culture – Holland & Davis can work with you to define the desired way of doing things that will match your company’s vision and strategy. We work with your team to determine in detail the performance characteristics that will be required for company success.

1. We work with your executive team to ensure clarity on your desired corporate direction
2. We then work with your management team to derive detailed descriptions of needed performance
3. We work with your management team to turn those detailed performance descriptions into statements of the “desired culture” … or the way we want to do things around here
4. We work to validate the desired culture with both your executive team and with key folks in your organization who have a good sense “of what is needed.”
5. We do no give your entire company a behavioral survey that says that everybody wants more communication, trust, and teamwork.

2. Development of an Implementation Plan for the Desired Culture –  Holland & Davis has the tools and expertise to lead your team through implementation planning for the desired culture.

1. Attempting to change a culture is not a trivial action … failure to use sound change management principles can cause great confusion among managers and employees alike.
2. We can used our proven implementation plan templates to ensure there is a comprehensive, coordinated set of actions planned and scheduled to result in a change, over time, to the desired culture.

3. Implementation of the Desired Culture – Holland & Davis has the consultant power to work with your team to take those implementation actions necessary for culture change, including:

1. Developing and communicating a clear picture of the desired culture 
2. Modifying your company’s work processes as needed to support the desired culture
3. Modifying your company’s performance management system to provide employee feedback on their progress toward the desired culture
4. Modifying your company’s performance management system to reward the desired culture while discouraging the unwanted culture.
5. Developing and delivering, along with your training team, training programs needed to support culture change
6. Development of metrics and/or feedback mechanisms to measure progress toward desired culture

4. Evaluation and Re-direction of the Desired Culture – Holland & Davis has the tools and expertise to lead your team through a periodic evaluation of your “way of doing things around here” … and to re-check to ensure that your definition of the desired culture is still the one that fits your company’s vision and strategy. If evaluation suggests changes to the desired culture, our consultants can work with your team to re-direct your current culture change initiatives.
   

How We Can Work Together

Holland & Davis is very flexible in the way we work with clients. We've outlined several kinds of engagements that might meet your needs for supporting Culture Change Initiatives.

1. Initial Conversation – Holland & Davis is readily available to engage in a one to two hour phone conference to talk through your company’s situation, what you might do about that situation, and how Holland & Davis could be of assistance.
   
   
2. Webinar on Culture Change – We offer an introductory webinar with an overview of Culture Change, what the issues are, and what kinds of solutions are being used as best practices. We then answer your questions in real time. Have as many in your room as you want… it's OK with us. We will have to talk about the length and purposes of the webinar to make sure we have met your needs.
   
   
3. Culture Change Assessment – Holland and Davis is willing to travel to your location, use some of our structured tools, make a culture change assessment, develop some high level recommended actions … and then present the work to you for your consideration. One big twist, we would recommend that you name two or three of your folks to be with us every minute and to take an active role in the assessment, development of recommendations, and play a leadership role in the summary presentation.  
   
   
4. Peer Review of Your Culture Change Initiative – We are available to take a look at any of your specific culture change initiatives and give a value-added opinion about what is working and what might be done to add strength and acceleration to your initiative.  What initiatives might we add value to? … designing a target culture or producing training products to support your unique culture, for example. Again, one big twist, we would recommend that you name two or three of your folks to be with us every minute and to take an active role in peer review, development of recommendations, and play a leadership role in the summary presentation.  
   
   
5. Leadership / Participation in Your Culture Change – We can play a role in your ongoing culture change projects, adding leadership, methodologies, tools and/or project personnel. We only have mature players… with 20+ years of business experience, knowledge of our methodologies, and cool heads.  Or we can just work with you during the scoping and planning of your culture project … just let us know what meets your needs best.
   

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To engage in an initial conversation about your culture change needs, please call Dutch Holland at 713.800.3663. I am confident we will learn something from you and hopefully you will learn from us too!