Leading a Successful Culture Transformation

What is Culture Transformation?

Culture Shift exists to transform organisational cultures so that people belong, and are safe to speak up if they don’t. We do that by providing people with a safe and simple way of speaking up to their organisation about culture-damaging behaviours.

Our goal is to unlock insights into culture for organisational leaders, so that you can make data-driven decisions to improve your culture.

Culture transformation refers to deliberate and strategic changes in the beliefs, values, behaviours and norms that define the way things are done within an organisation or a community. It involves shifting the fundamental elements that define the way people think and work together.

The impact of Culture Transformation on the workplace

Increasingly, business leaders are understanding the importance of positive cultures on performance. In fact, 66% of C-suite executives and board members believe culture is more important to performance than the organisation’s strategy or operating model (PWC, Global Culture Survey, 2021).

Organisations with strong, positive cultures outperform their competitors, with studies showing that culture-focused organisations experience higher levels of employee engagement, productivity, and profitability.

That is why it is important to deliberately and strategically transform the behaviours and norms within your organisation to better align with your vision, mission, and goals.

According to a study by the Harvard Business School, companies with strong cultures saw a 4x increase in revenue growth compared to those without.

Furthermore, a positive workplace culture can enhance employee satisfaction, retention, and well-being, leading to lower turnover rates and higher levels of employee morale and loyalty.

In today’s competitive business landscape, with conscious and silent quitting a growing issue for many businesses, culture transformation is not just beneficial but essential for driving sustainable growth, innovation, and long-term success.

How to achieve Cultural Change in the Workplace

Your reason for wanting to transform your culture can be triggered by a number of factors:

• Regulatory changes: Changes in industry regulations or legal requirements may necessitate shifts in organisational culture to ensure compliance and mitigate legal risks.
• Employee feedback and engagement: Culture transformation is often pursued to address challenges such as improving employee morale and engagement, often as a driver of organisational performance and effectiveness. Sometimes direct employee feedback through anonymous or direct reporting routes feeds into this.
• A crisis or scandal: It could also be due to a crisis. This blog post details some examples of organisations that have had this happen and then have been tied into legal agreements with the EHRC to ensure they make changes to their organisational culture.
• Seeing the benefits of positive culture change: Or perhaps, you want to transform your culture because you recognise the benefits to business performance of building a strong culture.

Understanding why culture transformation is needed in your organisation is important as it should influence your approach, particularly regarding comms. Trust is hugely important if you want people to engage with your change initiatives, and your reason for change will influence the level of trust people have in the organisation.

Knowing your ‘why’ is the starting point for achieving culture change in the workplace. Set this out in a vision, and be clear about your motivations.

After this;

• Communicate Effectively: Share your vision and goals. Ensure that your journey is clear as collaboration will be key to success.
• Foster Collaboration: Once you understand what your trigger is for changing your culture, dive into the need for it. Collaborate with the people experiencing your culture to understand what change they need. Get input from across the organisation too, you can’t just rely on the most vocal participants. An online reporting platform, and other forms of anonymous communication routes can really aid this collaboration process
• Strategise and plan: Once you’ve gathered your data, categorise these into areas of development. Understand what good looks like in each area, and set up initiatives that will help you move towards your goals. For example, if one area of change is inequity in progression or pay amongst genders, you can set initiatives around career planning, pay reviews and salary adjustments, leadership training and creating consistency in how these policies and procedures are carried out by line managers.
• Embrace Continuous Improvement: Cultivate a culture of continuous learning and improvement, where feedback is valued, and adjustments are always considered. Create channels of communication that you encourage people to use, and don’t be afraid to be adaptable and agile in the work that you’re doing. Changing culture is hard, and you might not get it right the first time.
• Monitor Progress: Establish metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and measure the effectiveness of cultural transformation initiatives.
• Define lines of responsibility and accountability: Having a plan is great, but if nobody is responsible for moving actions forward it is highly likely culture can fall off the agenda. Moreover, if nobody is accountable for achieving your goals, then the quality of work can diminish as those responsible get the job done but with no accountability for the concept of continuous improvement.

How to Make a Cultural Transformation

Making a cultural transformation isn’t easy. Here’s some advice on initiating and sustaining cultural change, including best practices and common pitfalls to avoid.

One of the biggest mistakes is assuming this work will reap immediate rewards. When setting goals and targets, ensure that you are setting milestones that lead up to larger KPIs. For example, if you’re aiming to reduce the prevalence of bullying and toxic behaviour in the workplace, you might first seek to understand your current reporting rates. Then, ensure reporting rates are accurate by creating accessible routes to reporting. Creating plans around training, sharing more support content and services – all of these are reasonable and measurable goals you can set along the way of achieving your overall goal.

Another common challenge is in being unable to overcome resistance to change. We sat down with Clarissa DiSantis to talk about how to identify resistance, and strategies for overcoming it that is packed full of advice and best practice that you can implement.

Cultural Transformation Strategy

“An organisation’s true strategy appears more implicitly in what it does; in its processes, actions, and routines. That strategy is an ongoing and active process that is lived by the organisation on a daily basis. Thus, much more than a piece of text, strategy is a way of doing something – a unique way of sustainable value creation.”

When it comes to engaging in culture transformation work, think strategy first. This will become your anchor point for any further work, ensuring that all of the initiatives you’re engaging in are tied to the goals you set out initially.

This strategy should align with your overall business goals. Building a positive culture has a huge range of business benefits, and as a result, your culture goals should feed into, if not sit directly beside your overall performance strategy.

Culture should be prioritised and communicated in the same way as your other corporate goals. If these are reported on and communicated monthly in your all team meetings or Leadership meetings, then your culture attainment should too.

Change Management in Cultural Transformation

Effective change management involves careful planning, communication, and stakeholder engagement to ensure that employees understand the need for change, feel supported throughout the process, and are empowered to adapt to new ways of working.

The implications of this on the success of any organisational transformation project is clear. Effective change management provides a structured approach to managing the human side of change.

By proactively addressing resistance, mitigating risks, and fostering a culture of openness and collaboration, change management helps organisations navigate complex transitions with minimal disruption and maximum buy-in.

Clear communication channels and regular updates keep employees informed and engaged, while involving stakeholders in decision-making processes ensures that their concerns are addressed and their perspectives are valued.

Ultimately, effective change management enables organisations to drive successful cultural transformations by aligning people, processes, and technology with the desired future state, leading to sustainable change and long-term success.

Benefits of a Culture Transformation

Building a positive culture can hugely benefit your organisation:

• A study by Glassdoor found that companies with strong cultures have a 31% lower turnover rate compared to those with weak cultures.
• Research by Columbia University found that organisations with positive cultures have employees who are 12% more productive.
• According to a study by Harvard Business School, companies with strong cultures saw a 4x increase in revenue growth compared to those without.
• Strong cultures foster an environment where employees feel empowered to innovate and share ideas, leading to increased innovation and creativity, as noted by research from Deloitte.

Long-Term Impact on Business Success

A transformed culture plays a pivotal role in driving the long-term success and resilience of a business by fostering a positive work environment where employees are engaged, motivated, and aligned with the organisation’s goals and values.

Through a shared sense of purpose and a strong commitment to collaboration and innovation, a transformed culture enables organisations to adapt to changing market dynamics, seize opportunities, and overcome challenges effectively.

Furthermore, a culture that prioritises transparency, trust, and open communication fosters stronger relationships among employees, leading to higher levels of employee satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.

Ultimately, by cultivating a culture that empowers individuals, promotes continuous learning and improvement, and embraces change, businesses can build a solid foundation for sustained growth, innovation, and long-term success in today’s dynamic and competitive business landscape.

Cultural Transformation Tools

Building a strong culture is difficult, and technology can be an invaluable tool in supporting you along your journey. Technology can assist with how you:

• Communicate your goals and updates with the wider organisation,
• Collaborate on your goals, workload and track progress over time
• Gather data to better understand your culture and turn that data into actionable insights
• Technology facilitates the implementation of scalable and tailored activity across your organisation
• Technology can improve your efficiency, by automating routine tasks, reducing administrative burdens, and allowing employees to focus on higher-value activities that drive cultural change and organisational performance rather than administrative duties.

Ultimately, technology serves as a powerful enabler for cultural transformation, empowering you to create a more agile, innovative, and resilient culture that drives long-term success and competitive advantage.

Measuring and Tracking Progress

One of the key areas that technology can help is in tracking data. When it comes to culture, data is invaluable in helping you make better decisions on where to invest your money and resources. It also helps you better understand the issues you are trying to overcome, and the progress you’re making over time in overcoming them.

When it comes to culture, you can look at data from 2 perspectives:

• Direct culture affirming metrics
• And metrics impacted by the outcomes of culture.

Culture affirming metrics are often measurable by asking people direct questions related to their experiences within your organisation. These metrics might look like a sense of belonging, employee wellness, or inclusion.

The second lens is through business performance. There are specific metrics that you can measure and track to give you a sense of your company culture. Such as:

• Retention of staff
• Absenteeism
• Engagement in activity outside of their specific job roles
• Productivity – are your teams reaching goals in a timely manner and to a high standard?
• Innovation – Of products and processes to improve efficiency

Seeing significant underperformance in these areas can be a big sign of an unsuccessful culture.

Of these two lenses; direct and outcome metrics; which should you measure?

Well, the likelihood is that you’ll want to measure both. 

Because while positive culture can influence positive business outcomes, “performance alone does not create a positive culture” (Boyce, Gillespie et al published in 2015 in the “Journal Of Organisational Behaviour”).

Importance of Cultural Transformation

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, cultural transformation is not just beneficial; it’s essential for long-term success and sustainability.

As organisations strive to remain competitive and resilient amidst constant change, building a positive culture that empowers employees, fosters innovation, and promotes collaboration becomes paramount.

If you get culture right, not only can this enhance employee satisfaction, engagement, and well-being but it also drives productivity, innovation, and profitability. By prioritising cultural transformation, organisations can create a workplace where individuals thrive, ideas flourish, and collective success is achieved, laying the foundation for enduring growth, resilience, and success.