As we start the New Year, this may be the perfect time to
begin looking at making change, building upon what works, eliminating what
doesn’t, and creating the culture your organization needs to succeed. This isn’t about making a statement or
creating a Phantom Culture. This is
about making deep, meaningful change.
Identifying and developing the culture that you want requires vision,
planning, and commitment.
Vision – Know what you want the culture to be. You may not be able to define the specifics,
but you know that behaviors, attitudes, or teamwork will be different. Have a vision, for how work will flow, people
will function, and how business will be conducted. As you determine your ideal, you can begin
identifying what does, and does not, currently support that ideal. Find your dream-team – those who are dedicated
to creating that ideal. They are needed
to move any vision forward.
Planning – The vision is your end-game. Planning is where you begin the work to get
there. Assemble your dream team and
support them with time, space, and any other necessary tools to begin working
toward that goal. This team will need to
work collaboratively to identify the specific qualities, in terms of behavior
and performance, which will support the vision.
They will more fully imagine the vision, while refining the needs that
the vision identified, and breaking them down into action steps.
Commitment – Having the vision, and carry-through of
developing a plan will not change your culture unless you are committed to
implementing it in every way possible.
Creating a culture and standing behind it means addressing those
behavioral and performance standards during routine feedback, annual
performance reviews, and everything in between.
It means holding every employee, at every level of the organization,
accountable to that same standard, and it means making hard decisions when
someone doesn’t “fit” your culture.
Creating a new company culture is not simple or easy, but it
yields impressive results. When you
identify and support your top performers, loyalty and productivity rise. When you eliminate those on your staff who
don’t demonstrate competency or accountability, you remove errors and
stagnation. A new culture allows you to
promote the skills your organization needs to be its best, while removing the
human hurdles that limit success. The
result - You create a dynamic team that can accomplish great things. And who doesn’t want, and need, that?
