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Optimising Performance Organisational Culture

How to get a winning Culture that reinforces the strategy

Ground breaking research reveals that Culture is one of only four things that truly make a difference. The study made it clear that building the right culture is imperative. This is one that champions high-level performance and ethical behaviour, where everyone works at the highest level, encouraging outstanding individual and team contributions and holds everyone (not just managers) responsible for success.

Why Culture

In some quarters of the business world, culture is still considered soft. It is not taken as seriously as say, operations. In other parts, culture is considered important, but the emphasis is on making the work environment fun. This is based on the theory that if the employees enjoy themselves they are more likely to remain loyal to the company. This is a narrow view.

Culture is important because it influences the way we behave. There is a direct link between Culture and performance.

For example it is almost impossible to be proactive and entrepreneurial in an organisation that has low risk and tight controls as its culture. People who find themselves in an organisation which does not match their personal values operate either under very high personal stress or find it intolerable and leave.

What is culture

Culture has many dimensions. These include the balance between internal focus and external focus; the balance between direct controls and indirect controls, the extent to which communications are closed or open, whether the motivation comes mainly from production or innovation, whether the relationships a team based or individual based; and so on.

Culture is the result of the relationship between the staff and organisation. Culture can be described as “the way we do things around here”. It’s often reflected in the organisational self talk, which is just as influential as individual self talk. It tends to come out at the office parties and in the tea room. It is the subject of myths and stories told and retold. Understanding these stories and if necessary helping to change them is a powerful tool towards establishing a new set of values and culture.

Culture is a reflection of the habits within the organisation

To change culture takes time because it usually means developing the skills, the knowledge and the attitude of the people and helping them see a bigger meaning in the work they do.

Our Product

One of the secrets of the Virtual Group’s Culture Process is that we have found hard empirical ways of measuring the appropriate Culture for your organisation.

There is no such thing as the right culture for all circumstances. The right Culture depends upon the value proposition that the company is trying to adopt, such as, Operational excellence, Customer intimacy, or Product leadership.

The diagram below shows that there are two key dimensions that define sort of culture. It’s important to realise that this is not an ‘either - or’ situation, all organisations need internal and external focus, all require direct and indirect controls; rather it’s a matter of centre of gravity.

For example, the appropriate Culture for a Product leader (customers get products which are constantly redefining the state of the art) may look something like the chart below.

To be a product leader they need to begin with a vision of insanely great products and create a steady stream of stand out products that delivers real performance gains. To achieve path braking innovations and speed to market their people need superior talent, capable of left / right thinking. The organisation has a dislike of bureaucracy and is highly flexible. For Product leaders, D thinking is particularly important (for innovation and design) followed by A (for research).

Have a look here for a living Case Study of Culture.

When to look at Culture

  1. Poor morale
  2. Loss of best staff
  3. People stressed
  4. Rituals, symbols and myths not positive
  5. Unwritten rules/barriers
  6. Self talk of organisation unhelpful
  7. If managers and staff have no common understanding of Vision

Probable outcomes of Culture

  1. Better morale across the organisation
  2. Better team work
  3. Less stress
  4. Less need for rules and restrictions
  5. People working as though they owned the business
  6. Better cohesion and collaboration between various parts of the business
  7. Everyone working to the same agenda
  8. People working hard on the business rather than in the business
  9. Fewer surprises
  10. More collaboration and participation because everyone understands their role

How Virtual Group supports Culture

  1. We work with managers and staff to define the appropriate Culture
  2. We work with managers and staff to introduce the required Culture
  3. We support managers and staff who are having problems in adopting the new Culture
  4. We help manages measure and rewards program behaviours the reflect the new Culture
  5. We advise in the structural issues and organisational issues that arise with the introduction of Culture.

Product support

This product has been developed and is supported by Bruce Holland with help where required from other members of the Virtual Group Business Consultants.

Guarantee

All work undertaken by Bruce Holland is guaranteed. If at the end of the program the client doesn’t feel that they have received value for money, they may adjust the bill and pay an amount equal to the value they feel they received.

Next step

For more information about how you can use our Culture Program give the Virtual Manager a call or ring Bruce Holland direct.

Bruce Holland
Phone +644 570 0727
Freephone 0800 4 virtual
Bruce.holland@virtual.co.nz.
Key words: Leadership, leadership development, leadership management, leadership training, leadership program, leadership skills

 
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