By Dawn-Marie Turner Ph.D

Transforming your organization's culture can reap many benefits and improve organizational performance. But it is not for the faint of heart and it is not a quick fix solution. 

Whether it is the current economic climate, the shifting political landscape or just the ever-increasing pace of change in today's world, business leaders are taking a fresh look at how their current organizational culture needs to change to enable success. One study found that almost 90 percent of organizations were either experiencing or had experienced some type of cultural change.  

Organizational culture is one of those terms that everyone is familiar with, but most of us would probably be quite challenged to fully describe or define the culture within our own organization. Despite this difficulty there is little argument about the importance of culture to an organization’s success or failure. 

An organization’s culture influences every aspect of its operation – from the way it plans and manages a meeting to how it defines and sets its core strategic direction. It represents the set of common or collectively learned values, beliefs, and assumptions that guide and direct individuals’ behaviour and interactions. Simply put, organizational culture defines how, what and most importantly why things get done the way they do in your organization.

Organizational culture is multidimensional and, like change, functions at both conscious and unconscious levels.  Edgar Schein, one of the most influential researchers in the field of organizational culture, identified three dimensions of organizational culture.

The first and most visible he called the artifacts --those highly visible elements that you can hear, see and feel immediately upon entering the establishment. This includes things like décor, dress code, greetings and other visible interactions.

The second level is slightly less visible. It represents the values, philosophies and strategies espoused by the members of the organization.

The third and most powerful level of organizational culture he identified holds the unconscious and collectively learned beliefs and assumptions that form the unspoken rules of the organization.  This level forms the foundation on which all other aspects of an organization’s culture has been built. It’s also the hidden element that enables the proliferation of conflicting subcultures within the same organization.

Schein noted culture was the most stable part of the organization, making it particularly challenging and complex to change. Even a dysfunctional culture provides the constancy and predictability that helps people stay in their comfort zones. It takes strong and committed leadership to move them to a new set of values, behaviours and beliefs.

Therefore, it is critical that you consider all of the levels – especially the hidden level -- of your organization’s current culture when embarking on a culture change initiative. Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn, who researched and developed the widely-used Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI), identified that putting new procedures and strategies in place won’t lead to sustained change if the basic values, rules and unspoken assumptions from which the organization operates don’t change too. In other words, if you don’t affect change at the “third level”, your organization’s culture will eventually come back to where it is today. 

Four elements you need when launching an organizational cultural change initiative:

1. A thorough understanding of the problem/opportunity to be addressed. Not all problems or opportunities require a cultural change. 

2. A full understanding your organization’s current culture and sub-cultures, including the unconscious and unspoken beliefs and attitudes. Unless you know the current culture you cannot define what aspects of the culture are influencing the problem. To be successful, any change, including a culture change, must be based in the present with a view to the future.

3. A clearly defined articulation of the intended outcome and the behavioural changes needed to meet the outcome. Without this you cannot assess how culture will impact your success.

4. A well documented transition plan. I’m a fan of the late Richard Beckhard, who many consider to be the founder of Organizational Development, and I echo his belief that more than any other type of change, culture change requires planning and a commitment to creating the environment of the intended culture. 

Of course, you also need TIME. Organizational culture change requires knowledge, detailed planning and commitment to stick with it for the long haul. Although successes can be achieved during the transition, fully transforming an organization’s culture is not a short-term project.

Because organizational culture pervades all aspects of your organization, any attempt to transform your organization’s culture requires a holistic and integrated approach with the full and committed participation of the entire organization. People will not move willingly outside their comfort zones unless they can see the destination clearly and actively participate in the journey. Applying sound change management practices from the outset will help ensure you and your employees reap maximum benefits from your organizational culture change initiative.

“Culture eats strategy for lunch.”
  --James Dallas, CEO Medtronics

*References available on request.