By Kim Jong-nam
Not all efforts bring positive results. Efforts to transform corporate culture are no exception. In my work helping organizations with cultural change projects, I frequently see certain ineffective approaches that do not contribute to the end goal of an improved corporate culture.
1) First and foremost, changes to corporate culture should not be seen as merely an administrative process. This phenomenon tends to happen when CEOs or other top executives simply "feel like" changing the culture. This leads to employees focusing on following the orders of the executive team as opposed to taking into serious account why a cultural change is needed and for whom. A clear definition is necessary for success. The goal should be the improvement of the company and not just the completion of obligatory and surface-level administrative work.
2) Another common problem is the misunderstanding that the more communication there is about changing corporate culture, the better it will be for the new culture to take hold. Many organizations tend to think that if they talk a lot about corporate culture and changing that culture, and if they emphasize these points to the people that they think are the causes of their cultural issues, it will help the cultural change take place. However, companies frequently fall into the trap of believing that this is enough, which will leave the real cause(s) untouched, often leading to further cultural deterioration. Communication only works when it is really needed, and is not a panacea.
3) Furthermore, organizations must understand that not all of the problems that occur in their organization are due to culture. Confusing strategy and culture, or being unable to distinguish climate from culture, can cause unwanted consequences. If these types of mistakes are made, it will be difficult to obtain the desired outcome. I've seen many organizations in which HR managers were busy trying to change corporate culture when the real issue was that their strategic direction was unclear or their corporate policies were not organized. The blind belief that every issue can be resolved through cultural change is unrealistic. Cultural change works only when cultural problems exist.
4) Some organizations fail because they believe that the process of changing corporate culture can be done through a one-size-fits-all approach. Many HR managers think all they need to do in order to change an organization's culture is simply to follow the classic checklist: identify the core values that their organization needs to have and then transmit the core values to the whole organization until they are internalized. They expect that this will change the culture to the one they want. However, this type of general process will not address the specific cultural problems that they wish to resolve. Thus, what they need to be clear about first is whether they want to address specific cultural problems or to create a well-organized whole corporate culture. The classic approach that is visible in many organizations is not effective in dealing with specific cultural issues. This is similar to how a person can either improve their overall health or target/cure a specific disease.
5) Changes to corporate culture should focus on pursuing balance instead of imbalance. Many cultural change efforts are conducted to resolve organizational issues, but if these efforts are pursued in an unbalanced way, they can bring adverse effects. For example, many organizations want to address complaints that their employees spread on social media or satisfy the needs of Millennials and/or Gen Z employees. It is laudable that companies want to address employee dissatisfaction. However, over-concentrating on one aspect of the cultural landscape tends to leave other aspects neglected, and thus does not always make the overall culture stronger. Cultural change should be conducted with the purpose of reinforcing the overall health of an organization, not merely temporary problem-solving.
It may sound too difficult to change a company's corporate culture. However, what is really difficult is finding the correct direction of an organization's culture or its cultural change, because finding this means knowing the current state of an organization, having a vision for its future and understanding how to get from one to the other.
Wanting to resolve problems, expanding cultural communication or clarifying what culture an organization wants to have ― all of these are different. Thus, understanding what your organization truly wants to do with its corporate culture is the first and most urgent step.
Kim Jong-nam is the founding CEO of META (www.imeta.co.kr) and a global organizational development consultant who works both virtually and in person.
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1) First and foremost, changes to corporate culture should not be seen as merely an administrative process. This phenomenon tends to happen when CEOs or other top executives simply "feel like" changing the culture. This leads to employees focusing on following the orders of the executive team as opposed to taking into serious account why a cultural change is needed and for whom. A clear definition is necessary for success. The goal should be the improvement of the company and not just the completion of obligatory and surface-level administrative work.
2) Another common problem is the misunderstanding that the more communication there is about changing corporate culture, the better it will be for the new culture to take hold. Many organizations tend to think that if they talk a lot about corporate culture and changing that culture, and if they emphasize these points to the people that they think are the causes of their cultural issues, it will help the cultural change take place. However, companies frequently fall into the trap of believing that this is enough, which will leave the real cause(s) untouched, often leading to further cultural deterioration. Communication only works when it is really needed, and is not a panacea.
3) Furthermore, organizations must understand that not all of the problems that occur in their organization are due to culture. Confusing strategy and culture, or being unable to distinguish climate from culture, can cause unwanted consequences. If these types of mistakes are made, it will be difficult to obtain the desired outcome. I've seen many organizations in which HR managers were busy trying to change corporate culture when the real issue was that their strategic direction was unclear or their corporate policies were not organized. The blind belief that every issue can be resolved through cultural change is unrealistic. Cultural change works only when cultural problems exist.
4) Some organizations fail because they believe that the process of changing corporate culture can be done through a one-size-fits-all approach. Many HR managers think all they need to do in order to change an organization's culture is simply to follow the classic checklist: identify the core values that their organization needs to have and then transmit the core values to the whole organization until they are internalized. They expect that this will change the culture to the one they want. However, this type of general process will not address the specific cultural problems that they wish to resolve. Thus, what they need to be clear about first is whether they want to address specific cultural problems or to create a well-organized whole corporate culture. The classic approach that is visible in many organizations is not effective in dealing with specific cultural issues. This is similar to how a person can either improve their overall health or target/cure a specific disease.
5) Changes to corporate culture should focus on pursuing balance instead of imbalance. Many cultural change efforts are conducted to resolve organizational issues, but if these efforts are pursued in an unbalanced way, they can bring adverse effects. For example, many organizations want to address complaints that their employees spread on social media or satisfy the needs of Millennials and/or Gen Z employees. It is laudable that companies want to address employee dissatisfaction. However, over-concentrating on one aspect of the cultural landscape tends to leave other aspects neglected, and thus does not always make the overall culture stronger. Cultural change should be conducted with the purpose of reinforcing the overall health of an organization, not merely temporary problem-solving.
It may sound too difficult to change a company's corporate culture. However, what is really difficult is finding the correct direction of an organization's culture or its cultural change, because finding this means knowing the current state of an organization, having a vision for its future and understanding how to get from one to the other.
Wanting to resolve problems, expanding cultural communication or clarifying what culture an organization wants to have ― all of these are different. Thus, understanding what your organization truly wants to do with its corporate culture is the first and most urgent step.
Kim Jong-nam is the founding CEO of META (www.imeta.co.kr) and a global organizational development consultant who works both virtually and in person.
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