Last week, I read an article in the Training Journal on culture change. The main point was that we as humans are creatures of habit and to instil change into an organisation and gain employee buy in into this, we need to raise awareness of the need for this by thinking about what the current culture is and what the blockers and enablers are for the future……………
How do we do it though? Are there techniques we can use?
After reading this, I’m thinking what can we do in our company and how can I help do this? Don’t know what you’re thinking but I’m going to facilitate a conversation in our team around the 7 S’s! Structure, strategy, shared values, style, staff, skills and systems……..What do I mean by this?
Well, by asking questions such as; what is our organisational structure? What is our vision for future and is our strategy aligned to this? What is the passion of our CEO? Do we share this passion? How do our leaders behave? What are the skills, roles and knowledge that are valued and what will we need in future?, this will help.
This is something we just don’t do at the moment and at least by having these conversations we’d start raising awareness on the topic and we’d get an idea of whether we as employees are singing of the same hymn sheet!
What can you do or do you do in your company on this?
Such an important point, definitely one for us to think about.
Comments
Hi Sioned
Thought-provoking post and I agree one for us to think about but also take action over. I think we need to instigate conversation over (and indeed challenge at times) what our future organisations look like and feel like. As you quite rightly ask, do our organisational structures meet our needs now let alone the future? The world of work is changing with more demands (and should be) being placed on HR than ever before and I believe it is our role to support and even lead this change. Check out this article about when Gen X runs the show (2019 isn't THAT far away - When Gen X Runs The Show
The point you raise about employees singing from the same hymn sheet is important as it's crucial to understand whether the organisational vision is shared and understood throughout the organisation from CEO down. In order to change effectively in my opinion people need to understand WHY change is happening whether this is a restructure, new values, new strategy, new product line, redundancies, cultural shift, new generational demands (like Gen X) etc. Whatever the change, communication and engagement are key especially with ever increasing demands from employees to be informed and treated like adults and where openness and transparency are expected as standard.
The future is exciting and the individuals, teams and organisations that are pro-active, on the front foot and looking to the future and thinking about the changes coming will be prepared and ready and in fact be seen as leaders and role models in the organisation. The others?
Well they'll get left behind and become non-value add to play on the side lines - if allowed to play at all.
Let me us know how the conversation with your team goes
Mike