5 Steps to Transform your Company Culture

The most successful companies have a culture that supports and advances its key goals and strategies. Culture serves as the company’s foundation; it makes expectations clear, illustrates norms for interactions, and articulates language used between colleagues. In other words, it describes “the way we do things around here.” 

Rather than allowing the company culture to develop unintentionally, leaders should play an active role in deliberately shaping the culture they need in order to support long-term growth and success.  Here are 5 steps to begin transforming your company culture:

1. Assess where you are now. The first thing leaders need to do is take a pulse of where they are currently: what expectations exist in the culture, how employees work together, and what actions and behaviors are supported or discouraged. Often it can be helpful to have an outside partner for this assessment as it can be difficult to step far enough back to see your own company’s culture in action.
2. Define where you need to be. Culture is not a one-size-fits-all solution: what works for another company may not work for yours. It is important to consider your organization’s specific needs, structure, and strategy. Are you in a new phase of your organization’s growth or maturity? Have you had a recent re-organization or key leadership change? What internal or external conditions have changed? What will it take to be successful in the future? How do you want people to work together? Answering these questions can start to help you define your ideal culture.
3. Engage employees in the process. Rather than leaders defining the culture in a vacuum, I encourage them to involve employees in the process. Get their input on both the current culture and the ideal culture. They have a helpful perspective that leaders often can’t see, and they can help fill in blindspots about how work actually gets done. Involvement in the process can also help employees feel engaged, valued, and heard.
4. Communicate new and changing practices and norms. As you communicate with employees about intended changes towards a more ideal culture, be clear about how you want the team to work together differently. Take the time to discuss what things will look like and what employees can expect going forward.
5. Be great role models. Employees consistently look to leaders to see what example they are setting. Ensure that your leaders are exhibiting the new behaviors you’ve defined and rewarding associates who do the same. Encourage them to be thoughtful about how they are showing up with each other and with their teams.

Culture matters. A company’s success relies on the capability and engagement of its people. The good news is that you can create the culture you need and shape it into a platform for continued success.  I will be delving into how I work with leaders to transform their company cultures during the upcoming (virtual) COE Summit on April 6th and 7th.

In my breakout session, we will explore:

• Common elements that exist in all healthy high-performing cultures AND elements that should be unique to your company’s values, strategy, and goals
• How leaders can be deliberate in shaping their company culture
• Specific challenges that exist as companies adapt to new hybrid work environments and teams that have recently been brought back to the office

You can learn more about the 2022 COE Summit and register below:

Learn More    Register