Countless articles published by scores of organizations since COVID have highlighted key work-related issues including employee stress, manager dissatisfaction, employee disengagement, quiet quitting, etc. The need for realistically re-defining, energizing and sustaining company culture is stronger than ever so that organizations can attract and retain top employees, improve innovation, nurture world-class safety, and provide a foundation for operational excellence. Effective, sustainable culture change requires five active and visible support behaviors from leadership.
1. Define and Guide the Culture Change
Related to this step. there are four important activities for executive leadership:
a. Provide Vision and Direction. As with any other strategic initiative, with successful culture change, management is responsible for setting the vision for cultural change. Senior leadership must clearly articulate the reasons for the change (what my team likes to call “the burning platform”), clearly define the desired outcomes, and communicate continually about steps that will be taken to achieve the new culture and about how these changes align with the company’s long-term goals and benefit both the organization and employees. Although aligning change throughout the organization is important, the leadership, vision, and constant supporting behaviors should come from the top. A change cannot be spoken into existence. It takes hard work, planning, and multi-level, multi-directional communication.
b. Actively Participate. For cultural change to succeed, management must take clear responsibility and active participation in the cultural change. Their involvement signals that the changes are a priority for the organization and are not superficial– merely “HR-led” or owned by a functional area such as Safety or Continuous Improvement. One company brought in a consulting firm to help them launch a major culture change, and then almost immediately assigned the ownership to an upper-middle management leader and withdrew from the picture. The plans and support they had voiced early in the initiative fell prey to other urgent issues, and within three months, the sites that were hard at work on the culture change were resentful and assumed there was not leadership support. Executive leadership was not demonstrating consistent interest.
c. Use Continuous Feedback Loops. Management should create ongoing opportunities for soliciting input from employees throughout the entire change process. Not only does this provide effective communication, it also demonstrates the behaviors the new culture seeks. It shows that the organization “means business.” Not only that, but people will also help implement what they help create. If a cultural change is forced and prescribed from the top without ideas and input from employees at other hierarchical levels, the implementation will take at least twice as long as it should, and it will be very tough to sustain. Engaging in two-way communication demonstrates that leadership is listening and willing to adapt strategies if necessary.
d. Be a Role Model. When management embodies the values and behaviors they want to see in a culture change—such as openness, collaboration, or accountability—it sets a powerful example for the rest of the organization to follow. Employees will be watching: Is leadership demonstrating support for the desired cultural values in their decision-making and interactions? If not, leaders are undermining the very culture they say they want.
2. Provide Resources
Culture change requires resources like time, money, and tools. Management plays a critical role in ensuring that the right resources are allocated to support training, new processes, team meetings, or technology that aligns with the new culture. Along with resources, leadership must also hold the organization accountable to ensure that employees are provided the pockets of time required for training, team meetings, and improvements. Employees and managers alike will need training and ongoing feedback for both hard skills and soft skills development. Providing training in soft skills like communication, leadership, or conflict resolution are necessary to change culture.
3. Hold people accountable
Leaders at all levels ensure that the cultural shift is embedded across all levels of the organization by holding everyone accountable to the new values. This can include setting up new or additional KPIs or evaluation criteria that reward behaviors that will support the new culture. When pockets of resistance become apparent, leadership needs to address them by identifying obstacles, having difficult conversations, and removing roadblocks. To reinforce the culture across the hierarchy, set clear expectations for managers to participate in guiding cultural change. Incorporate these expectations into performance evaluations to ensure accountability.
4. Ensure Employee Involvement
For culture change to be effective, management must involve employees at all levels. In fact, the most successful culture changes I’ve seen become employee owned, with employees at the center of the culture change, with executive leadership creating celebrations, holding management accountable, and removing roadblocks. Encouraging team members to contribute ideas, take ownership of new initiatives, and participate in designing and implementing the culture helps create a sense of shared ownership.
Don’t overlook middle managers. With their direct contact with employees, they play a critical role in culture change. Train them on the importance of culture, how to model the desired behaviors, and how to manage change within their teams. Middle managers, after all, are going to play a huge role in mentoring and supporting culture change. Provide them with the tools, training, coaching, and autonomy to make decisions that align with the new culture.
5. Rethink Rewards and Recognition
Reinforce the new culture by recognizing and rewarding behaviors that align with the new cultural values and norms. Publicly praising employees who demonstrate the new values and offering tangible rewards (promotions, bonuses, etc.) encourages others to follow suit. Recognition and celebration not only pertain to obvious successes, but employees should also be recognized for using behaviors that support the culture change, even when those activities may not be successful. For example, if an organization is fostering a culture of innovation, not every innovation project will be successful, but even the failures should be celebrated.
Executive leadership support is the life force for any successful cultural change. Without strong, visible leadership and obvious commitment from the top, successful, enduring culture change is likely to flounder. By leading by example, providing resources, fostering open communication, and holding everyone accountable, organizations can ensure that cultural transformation takes root and drives long-lasting employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention.