Resetting the company tradition: four steps to outline the “new regular” of your organization

Given the many changes in a short period of time resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic and social crises, employers are faced with important decisions about how to lead their teams and adapt to today's circumstances. It's a good time to see where your business is now and apply what you've learned in the past few months. It is also important to consider how you listen to and connect with employees, as well as ways to focus more on diversity and inclusion.

What do you do next? Consider a cultural reset.

We generally understand culture as the way things are done in an organization. Culture embodies the vision, values, norms and habits that determine how employees behave when they do their daily work. Many work habits and employee experiences have changed in the first half of 2020, and some companies have made dramatic changes to adapt. There is a good chance that cultural shifts are not far behind.

As you go forward to define new ways of working – – and the culture to support them – – Be prepared for the wishes of the employees and be ready to have courageous conversations.

When resetting the corporate culture and defining the “new normal” of your company, think of the following cultural elements:

• Organizational strategy and purpose – Confirm your mission and vision in the light of the “new normal”. Has anything changed? Do past values ​​and behaviors continue to serve mission and vision, or do they need to be adjusted?
• Values ​​and behaviors – Do some values ​​and behaviors need to be discarded or added in the context of the new business environment? Where can you better emphasize the importance of diversity, inclusion and mutual respect? What combination of values ​​and behaviors will best serve mission and vision in this new environment? How are they defined and measured?

• Core processes and systems – How have your workflows and processes changed due to orders at home and remote work? Which structures or systems could be improved to take account of the differences and unique backgrounds of the employees? How can your HR, operational and financial processes be adjusted to better meet the current needs of your employees? – – whether for more flexible and distant work options or for fairness, equality and parity between races, genders and age groups?
• Motivation and recognition – – What did you learn from the employees about their needs and motivations regarding the arrangement at home and the civil rights movements? How can managers and managers respond to these needs in order to build trust in the new work environment? How can you foster collaboration and build a community as part of your culture? How can you structure rewards and recognition? – – whether from managers or colleagues – – to strengthen desired behaviors and new ways of working?
• Employee engagement and input – – How can employees contribute to the day-to-day running of your company and which processes are in place to react to their feedback? A recent survey by The Grossman Group found that 48% of employees who work for their employer at home during COVID-19 want to work remotely after COVID-19. While remote working is not for everyone, employees crave flexibility in their work environment. Make sure that you have well-thought-out approaches so that employees feel heard and supported when needs and situations change. This can lead to more engagement and commitment to the company's goals.
• Willingness of managers and executives – What role do managers and executives play in cultural change and what do they need to know, feel and do to be successful? Ensure that these leaders understand their important role in modeling new behaviors, communicating expectations, and guiding employees to a new way of working. Pay particular attention to preparing leaders at the forefront of their communication role in leading change.
• Cultural resilience – When creating your future workplace, consider how you can build cultural resilience so that your team can adapt quickly when further changes are inevitable. According to a recent Gallup report, resilience in tough times includes focusing on the basics: clarifying roles, ensuring that employees have what they need to do their jobs, enable them to do their best work, and help people see how their work connects A larger purpose and extremely high quality standards for all teams.

Create and communicate your culture change strategy

As with any change, targeted culture change will be more palatable for employees if they are involved in developing the approach. Including employees while considering the cultural reset factors above and including their contributions to work styles and location options can help you achieve a positive result. It's good to follow key steps in a change management process to make sure you have a well-considered plan for introducing the new culture.

Assess the impact of changes and organizational readiness

• Assess the culture, climate and changes by understanding the current state and defining the challenges, obstacles and opportunities ahead.
• Create a change declaration case (what changes and why) and document the required changes to specific standards and behaviors.
• Clearly define success and how it is measured to create a basis for planning.
• Consider and plan support for the stakeholders who will have the greatest impact from cultural change.

Formulate the change management strategy

• Prioritize important aspects of cultural change by formulating the desired final state, including language, skills and observable behavior of employees.
• Align sponsorship and leadership with a clear understanding of who will be the sponsor of visible change and what other leaders need to do to make the effort successful.
• Ensure that appropriate management systems are in place to support change so that success is strengthened and employees are rewarded for new behaviors rather than the old way of working.
• Define feedback channels, responsibilities for follow-up and options for evaluating and responding to inputs.
• Develop communication and engagement strategies with which executives share the vision and understand what role they play in success.

• Develop stakeholder analysis and identify specific groups, impacts, needs and potential resistance to change.
• Define and tie up the required resources (i.e. HR, technology, budget, etc.).
• Involve sponsors, executives and change agents, including defining their responsibilities, confirming expectations and providing training.
• Equip managers and supervisors with the knowledge and training required to model new behaviors, support cultural change, and communicate effectively.

• Provide communication according to the plan for the target groups, check the understanding and change it as necessary.
• Engage leaders, managers, supervisors and change agents to communicate and reinforce key behaviors.
• Ensure that executives and change agents actively collect feedback, respond to it and forward it to inform project communication efforts.
• Share and customize information based on feedback.

Tips for success in resetting corporate culture:

• Balance fast profits with long-term success – Identify key milestones in the roadmap for your cultural vision and communicate frequently to ensure that employees know where you are. Celebrate when milestones are reached and motivate people by highlighting small victories and behaviors you want to see.
• Talk about what's changing and why – – Help employees understand what is changing, why it is changing, what it means to them, and how they can help. It is particularly important to have a unified framework and definitions of your culture and your behavior in order to control the transition and to minimize misinterpretations.
• Listen carefully and answer – Create and use informal and formal feedback channels to gather employee views and perceptions. Use their feedback and ideas to make decisions and return to let employees know that they have been heard and that their contributions have been used wisely. If employees really feel represented, they are more likely to support change.
• Remember that one size does not fit everyone – Understand and adapt messages to the different needs of your most important target groups, especially employees. Providing specific information and codes of conduct that are tailored to the specific needs of different roles – from front-line employees with production or service / support responsibilities to leadership roles to employees who communicate with customers or third-party partners. When employees feel connected, their engagement increases and the results improve.
• Don't assume everyone knows – Since so much is changing so quickly these days, you shouldn't assume that the employees know everything. Communicate regularly and repeat important messages and expectations. Some employees may only hear and understand for the first time.

In these unprecedented times, consider the positive impact you can achieve by carefully developing your corporate culture to meet the needs and concerns of your employees. If you focus on targeting culture, you can take advantage of the moment and position yourself well to adapt to future changes.

When you think about the culture in your workplace, how can a reset help your company be even more effective in the future?

– –David Grossman

Click below to download this two-page leaflet – 10 Tips for Managing Culture Change – that will help you set your company's culture change to success.

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