In organisations where employees come from different backgrounds, have different beliefs and behave differently as a result of both, there is a need for a corporate culture that all groups are able to internalise and adopt.
Every employee that walks through a company’s doors, brings their culture with them. Having diverse cultures can be a positive thing for a company because it brings with it a diversity of ideas. The opposite, however, is also a possibility: Diverse cultures mean opposing points of view which can stifle ideas, generate negativity and reinforce hostility.
A company should never expect an employee to push down or deny their own culture. But there needs to be something that bonds people in spite of their differences – an overarching corporate culture achieves this.
It is notoriously difficult to successfully implement a corporate culture in an organisation. This is because it requires a financial investment as well as a clear strategy of creation. It also requires a substantial investment of time because this kind of change doesn’t happen overnight. Even if companies know that having a culture is important, they’re often reluctant to give resources to this kind of long-term, change-intensive project.
When implementing a change of culture, it helps to keep the following in mind:
Watch the stubbornness score
While management may have been working on a company culture change for a long period of time, your employees haven’t. This means that, on rollout, they have very little time to absorb the change. And when it comes to creating a set of new company related beliefs, people will dig their heels in and stay there until they are accustomed to and approving of a culture change. Every employee has their own stubbornness ratio, so you need to keep that in mind when you’re planning timelines.
Buy in or get bought out
An implementation that requires people to think and behave differently makes them uncomfortable. This discomfort increases the amount of time it takes for adoption. If they are being told that this culture being implemented is the foundation or heart of the company, then they will expect to see leadership living it. Management buy-in and dedication is therefore crucial.
Build an environment
A company culture will be more successful if it allows for people to grow. This means having some kind of policy that allows them to be more expressive. The more comfortable they are, the more they’ll open up.
Transparency means authenticity
If an organisation expects its employees to adopt a new set of corporate values, it needs to explain why they should do so. Being transparent with them throughout rollout goes a long way in convincing them that it is important.
