Understanding and changing corporate culture
Culture often becomes the focus of attention during periods of organisational change. Altering one or more aspects of ‘culture’ could be a significant contributor to landing a new corporate vision.
Culture is that ethereal something that hangs in the air and influences how work gets done, critically affects project success or failure, says who fits in and who doesn't, and determines the overall mood of the company.
As McKinsey said – culture is how we do things around here…
Culture often becomes the focus of attention during periods of organisational change. Altering one or more aspects of ‘culture’ could be a significant contributor to landing a new corporate vision.
The six elements of culture are:
Stories – The past events and people talked about inside and outside the company. Who and what the company chooses to immortalise says a great deal about what it values, and perceives as great behaviour.
Rituals and Routines – The daily behaviour and actions of people that signal acceptable behaviour. This determines what is expected to happen in given situations, and what is valued by management.
Symbols – The visual representations of the company including logos, how plush the offices are, and the formal or informal dress codes.
Organisational Structure – This includes both the structure defined by the organization chart, and the unwritten lines of power and influence that indicate whose contributions are most valued.
Control Systems – The ways that the organisation is controlled. These include financial systems, quality systems, and rewards (including the way they are measured and distributed within the organization).
Power Structures – The pockets of real power in the company. This may involve one or two key senior executives, a whole group of executives, or even a department. The key is that these people have the greatest amount of influence on decisions, operations, and strategic direction.
Changing the Culture
Take each of the six elements of culture in turn and record what happens now and what ideal behaviour is. You can use the table below as a guide.
What – Ideal – Gap – Change
Culture Element | What happens now? | What should happen? |
Stories · What stories do people currently tell about your organisation? · What reputation is shared amongst your customers and other stakeholders? · What do these stories say about what your organization believes in? · What do employees talk about when they think of the history of the company? · What stories do they tell new people who join the company? · What heroes, villains and mavericks appear in these stories? | ||
Rituals and Routines · What do customers expect on first contact? · What do employees expect? · What would be immediately obvious if changed? · What behaviour do these routines encourage? · Is change accepted? · When a new problem is encountered, what rules do people apply when they solve it? · What core beliefs do these rituals reflect? | ||
Symbols · Is company-specific jargon or language used? How well known and usable by all? · Are there any status symbols used? · What image is associated with your organisation, looking at this from the separate viewpoints of customers and staff? | ||
Organisational Structure · Is the structure flat or hierarchical? Formal or informal? Organic or mechanistic? · Where are the formal lines of authority? · Are there informal lines? | ||
Control Systems · What process has the strongest controls? Weakest controls? · Is the company generally loosely or tightly controlled? · Do employees get rewarded for good work or penalised for poor work? · What reports are issued to keep control of operations, finance? | ||
Power Structures · Who has the real power in the organisation? · What do these people believe and champion within the organisation? · Who makes or influences decisions? · How is this power used or abused? |