Five Steps to a Corporate Culture Shift

The definition of Corporate Culture is “the collective values, attitudes, and behaviors of the organization’s staff”. Common sense will tell you (and it is borne out by countless studies on the issue) that if your company suffers from low morale, profitability is significantly lower than it could be. Trust me, it’s costing you.

Quantifiable consequences include:

1. Absenteeism
2. Lack of productivity
3. Turnover
4. Poor customer service
5. Sabotage

Have you ever sat beside a coworker who is unhappy in their job? Like a contagious disease, poor morale will spread from individual to individual unless steps are taken to inoculate against it.

In order to eliminate negativity in a corporate culture it is necessary to improve the values attitudes and behaviors of the individuals within the organization. This can be done in five simple steps:

1. Assess the extent and major causes of the problem through a formal cultural assessment survey as well as through an informal interview process.
2. Management must set the tone and lead by example. Progressive managers treat all employees with honesty, respect and dignity. Employees will follow the example.
3. Improve communication. Verbal, written, email, body language communication etc. must be respectful in tone. It is never appropriate to yell, use sarcasm, to condescend, to discipline in front of others.
4. Review employee performance honestly and fairly. Praise whenever warranted. Reward superior performance.
5. Hold regular staff social activities and employee development in order to build trust, camaraderie and as a demonstration that the company values their contributions.

A culture shift requires time, resources, and commitment. The return on investment, however, is substantial.

The Medium Imprints the Message

Recently, the Vice President of Sales for a large paper company came to Canadian Outback with a problem.

A recent merger with another large company had doubled the size of the sales department as the two sales forces were amalgamated into one space. The staff from each organization were unfamiliar with each other, came from different corporate cultures, were trained in different systems, served overlapping sales territories, and required integration of job seniorities. The potential for problems were obvious. The issues ahead would require effective leadership, communication and facilitation to manage the change without undue disruption to the organization, and the VP knew he needed to provide an inspirational message.

The first step in the solution was to provide a trust building and bonding experience so that the sales staff could get to know one another. They chose a whitewater rafting trip on the Elaho River near Whistler, BC. About half way down, after a turbulent stretch of river, 60 account representatives in wetsuits and helmets clambered from the rafts, paddles in hand, and assembled on the sandy beach of an island. Eagles soared overhead and a misty waterfall tumbled from a distant glacier. Downstream the river calmed.

On the banks of the Elaho River the Vice President, dressed in his wetsuit like everyone else, delivered a powerful speech about working together in an exciting new department, using the turbulent waters already navigated and the calm waters ahead as a workplace analogy. The staff was permanently impacted. Euphoric at the end of the day, they returned to work ready to accept change.

Afterwards the VP told me that he could have gathered the group in the boardroom for the speech, but he didn’t think it would have been quite as memorable. It’s hard to disagree. It was then that I realized just how important the medium for the message can be.

James Corbett

Canadian Outback