Organizational culture change refers to the process of altering an organization's foundational elements that shape its shared identity and behavior.
Your organizational culture encompasses core values, beliefs, processes, customs, and practices. Combined, they manifest as a shared attitude and behavior unique to your organization. Yet, your company culture is bound to change for one or more reasons, making organizational culture change a natural, and often necessary, evolution.
Understanding the Core of Organizational Culture
Before diving into how culture changes, it's essential to understand what it comprises. Think of organizational culture as the collective personality of a company. It's the "way things are done around here."
Key components include:
- Core Values: The guiding principles and standards that the organization and its employees uphold.
- Beliefs: Shared assumptions about the organization, its customers, and the world.
- Processes: The standard ways of working and making decisions.
- Customs: Traditional ways of interacting and celebrating within the organization.
- Practices: The day-to-day actions and behaviors that are common.
Why Organizational Culture Change Happens
As noted, organizational culture is bound to change for one or more reasons. This isn't a random occurrence but is often triggered by internal or external factors.
Common drivers for culture change include:
- Leadership Changes: New leaders often bring different visions and priorities.
- Mergers and Acquisitions: Combining two cultures requires adaptation.
- Market Shifts: Changing customer demands or competitive landscapes may necessitate a cultural shift towards innovation or efficiency.
- Technological Advancement: New tools and systems can alter how people work and interact.
- Growth or Downsizing: Significant changes in company size impact structure, communication, and relationships.
- Performance Issues: A need to improve productivity, morale, or profitability can spark a desire for cultural change.
The Process of Changing Culture
Changing organizational culture is complex and typically involves a structured approach. It's not a quick fix but a journey requiring commitment and consistency.
Common steps in the change process often include:
- Defining the Desired Culture: Clearly articulate the values, beliefs, and behaviors you want to cultivate.
- Assessing the Current Culture: Understand the existing culture through surveys, interviews, and observation.
- Identifying the Gap: Determine the difference between the current state and the desired state.
- Developing a Strategy: Create a plan outlining initiatives, timelines, and responsibilities.
- Communicating the Change: Clearly explain why the change is needed and what the new culture will look like to all employees.
- Implementing Initiatives: Roll out training programs, revise policies, update processes, and model desired behaviors from leadership.
- Reinforcing the Change: Recognize and reward behaviors aligned with the new culture. Address resistance proactively.
- Monitoring and Adapting: Continuously track progress and make adjustments as needed.
Example of a Cultural Shift
Consider a company with a very hierarchical culture that wants to become more innovative and collaborative.
| Old Culture Traits | New Culture Goals | Initiatives |
|---|---|---|
| Top-down decision making | Empowered teams | Implement cross-functional project teams |
| Individual silos | Open communication | Introduce open-plan workspaces; use collaboration tools |
| Risk aversion | Experimentation encouraged | Create innovation labs; celebrate learning from failures |
Implementing such a change requires significant effort across leadership, HR, and every employee.
Challenges in Culture Change
Organizational culture is deeply ingrained, making change challenging. Resistance from employees comfortable with the status quo is common. Lack of clear communication, inconsistent leadership behavior, and insufficient resources can also derail efforts. Successful change requires persistence and alignment across all levels of the organization.
