What is an organizational culture change?
Organizational culture change is the process of aligning your internal culture with your core values. The core values your company started with may not be the ones you have today, so consider implementing changes in company culture to match your new values.
When leaders decide to change an organization’s culture, they may need to redefine every aspect of the business, such as how employees are hired and trained, how products are marketed and how individual roles are defined. You may also need to update your company’s mission statement to reflect your changing values.
5 benefits of changing corporate culture
Organizational culture changes occur for many reasons. For example, a business owner may recognize that changes in technology or the marketplace require adjustments to their company’s processes. Increased competition may make it necessary to focus on creativity and innovation. You may even need to change company culture to enhance productivity or create a better work environment.
Regardless of the reason, a culture change in the right direction can bring many benefits to your business.
1. Increased sense of ownership for employees
When employees have the opportunity to contribute to organizational culture and organizational change, they experience an increased sense of ownership. For example, stopping micromanagement in the workplace helps employees work autonomously and gain agency.
Empowered employees may outperform their peers, enabling your company to benefit from their talents.
2. Improved morale
A strong organizational culture motivates employees, allowing you to build trust, team loyalty and pride in the company. Creating a positive culture also has the potential to boost productivity and reduce turnover within your organization.
One way to foster a positive organizational culture is to recognize and reward employees’ efforts. This encourages them to contribute to the growth of the business, leading to company-wide benefits and better relationships between employees and management.
3. Better customer service
Changing corporate culture has a direct impact on your company’s values. For example, if your values include respect, empathy and accountability, those values should be evident in everything your employees do.
When team members treat customers with respect and empathy, it’s easier to build positive customer relationships. Taking accountability also shows customers that your company is committed to meeting their needs. Overall, positive organizational culture changes tend to improve customer service.
4. Increased innovation
A successful culture change can inspire innovation because a positive culture can help make employees feel valued and supported. When team members have support from managers and enterprise leaders, they’re more likely to take healthy risks. Those risks may benefit your organization in the form of new products, increased sales or a better brand reputation.
5. Increased profits
If your culture change is positive, your company’s performance and productivity should improve. As productivity increases, you have an opportunity to generate revenue and reduce operational expenses. If you achieve these goals, you can increase your profit margin.
How to change your organizational culture
Even if employees don’t voice dissatisfaction, their behavior may indicate that you need to focus on changing corporate culture. Signs include high turnover, reduced productivity and lower levels of commitment.
Rather than making small improvements, it’s often smarter and more cost-effective to implement broad changes. Follow these tips to make your cultural shift a success.
1. Evaluate your current culture
The first step is to evaluate your current culture thoroughly and identify crucial performance priorities. You’ll have the opportunity to identify behavioral weaknesses or outdated processes that could keep your company from achieving its full potential.
If you want to improve your company’s overall performance, you’ll have to define your vision and set two or three performance priorities. Make sure your vision aligns with your company’s strengths and limits its weaknesses.
2. Align processes
Next, align processes to support the performance priorities you’ve identified. For example, if growth is your first priority, achieve it through processes that help you develop new products and services, increase sales or identify more effective sales strategies.
Make sure your team understands the changes and commits to them. This will help you obtain the feedback you need to track key measurements.
3. Plan for implementation
Outline transparent, consistent steps to achieve each goal. This can help employees feel like they’re part of the process and improve compliance.
FAQs about organizational culture
How is organizational culture different from the organization’s vision and mission?
The vision is the desired end state, while the mission is the main purpose of the business. Your organizational culture is the way you do things to achieve both.
Is culture the product of employees?
When you clearly define your values, beliefs, attitudes and ways of doing things, you can positively influence the culture. For example, when employees view their personal values as organizational values, they’re generally more motivated to achieve company goals.
Similarly, if company leaders model desirable behavior, team members may also follow the lead of their supervisors or department head, establishing a pleasant work environment.
Is it possible to change the culture of certain departments?
If several departments are performing well, there may be no need to change their cultures. Changing departmental culture may be necessary if you want to increase your retention rate or promote innovation.
