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COUNTING

ON

CULTURE

Judith Brooks, SPHR

DEBRA SHEPPERSON, SPHR

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Debra has 15+ years of human resources

experience. Her most recent human resources

executive role has been in the global power

service industry with Alstom. Her previous

experience was in power generation with

Dominion. She is an expert in developing and

aligning human capital strategies and human

resources programs and best practices in support

of business objectives and organizational values.

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Mike Garber, Partner In Charge

Betsy Hedrick, Partner

Phil Patterson, Senior

Dwight Buracker, Supervisor

Shannon Winslow, Senior

Quin Lunsford, Senior

Andrea Nichols, Senior

Chris Fulmer, Supervisor

The PBGH LLP

GOVERNMENT

A&A TEAM

Client service

excellence

Innovation

Respect

Integrity

Excellence

OUR OBJECTIVE

• Define culture and explore what culture

is

• Get you thinking about your own

• OMG…IS THERE MORE THAN

ONE?

• What are SUB-CULTURES?

• Discuss ways culture can be

• Assessed, influenced, changed

• OTHER??

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Our “OTHER” Objective

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Corporate culture is one of

those focus areas that are not

always fully understood.

WHY???

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Really????

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Corporate Culture: JUST WHAT IS IT ?

ESSENCE

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HOW WE DO WHAT WE DO

‘Our world is being dramatically reshaped.

The rules of the past no longer apply.

In the 21st century, it’s no longer what you do that matters most,

but HOW you do it.

FORTUNE magazine

"A trained moral philosopher, Dov Seidman has built a highly successful business on the theory that in

today’s wired and transparent global economy, companies that ‘outbehave’ their competitors ethically will

also tend to outperform them financially

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Corporate Culture: How We Do Things Around Here

Corporate culture is the collective behavior of people using

common corporate vision, goals, shared values, beliefs, habits,

working language, systems, and symbols.

Command-and-control

Self-governance

Values based

Rules based

Performance based

Safety first

Conservative

Ethics

Play it Safe

Growth

Military

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SOPS

PRECISION

AGGRESSIVE DEADLINES

Cultural Elements….

HIGHLY

REGULATED

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PUBLIC ACCOUNTING

GOVERNANCE AND CULTURE

impacts:

The way decisions are made

The clarity people have about their roles in the org

The degree of empowerment your people feel in

their positions

The political under-currents that surround the

way things get done all affect your culture

With ill-defined or poorly communicated

organizational and governance structures,

bottlenecks and bureaucracy can ensue 17

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Bosses are eight times more likely than the average

employee to believe that their organization is self-governing.

(The cheery folk in human resources are also much more

optimistic than other employees.)

Some 27% of bosses believe their employees are inspired by

their firm.

Alas, only 4% of employees agree.

Commissioned by Dov Seidman, boss of LRN, a firm that advises on corporate culture, and author of “How”, a

book arguing that the way firms do business matters as much as what they do, and conducted by the Boston

Research Group, the “National Governance, Culture and Leadership Assessment” is based on a survey of thousands of

American employees, from every rung of the corporate ladder.

PUBLIC SERVICE FACTOID

HHHMM…CAN YOU CHANGE IT?

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Corporate culture The view from the top, and bottom

Bosses think their firms are caring. Their minions disagree

Sep 24th 2011 | NEW YORK | from the print edition

As WALMART grew into the world’s largest retailer, its staff were

subjected to a long list of dos and don’ts covering every aspect of

their work. Now the firm has decided that its rules-based culture

is too inflexible to cope with the challenges of globalization and

technological change, and is trying to instill a “values-based”

culture, in which employees can be trusted

to do the right thing because they know

what the firm stands for.

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“People of Walmart”

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Coping with the challenges of globalization and technological change ?

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High energy

Family oriented

Empowered

Innovative or creative

Youthful

Difference making

Quality focused

High growth

Hard driving (in some cases)

Revenue-focused

Inclusive

Transparent

Untrusting

Negative

Selfish

Back-biting or triangulating

Silo oriented

Slow growth

Controlling

Cost-focused

Struggle filled

Dishonest

Closed off or secretive

Exclusive

DYSFUNCTIONAL

FUNCTIONAL

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Develop a differentiated & diverse workplace

Build a workplace designed for the new comers

Focus first on culture and then

on programs

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A great culture has a special sense or feel that is

hard to put your finger on…like a secret sauce.

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There is no one-size-fits-all cultural

model or ideal because each org’s

culture reflects its people and

behaviors, all very unique.

CULTURAL ANALYSIS

Conduct an honest analysis of your org’s culture

Consider how it feels in various situations and categorize those “feelings” honestly

Facilitate an open discussion with your org’s leaders on culture and lead them in the same exercise – if they would be open to it

Undertake an employee survey

Recommend a simple 12-question “Cool Culture” assessment tool

Launching it online and allowing for anonymous input is most likely to garner truly honest responses

Engage a 3rd party to conduct interviews

These can focus on both the current feel of your org and also what those selected to input would like to see change or the “desired state”

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• If you’d like to conduct a simple 12 question “Cool Culture Assessment “to support your cultural evolution, contact :

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http://www.convergencecoaching.com

RESOURCE

SELF-ASSESSMENT

We have developed our mission statement

We have developed a written vision statement

We have identified our core values

We have a code of conduct in place

We have developed a strategic plan

We have not developed any of these

None of the above

How would I know?

BACKBONES!

DID YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?

Org leaders can look at the results and discuss

what the desired state is by asking:

• What cultural environment do we most want

to achieve?

• What are the attributes of that environment?

• How do we want others to describe what it is

like to work here, to work with us as service

provider, to think about a career here, etc?

• What elements would you most like to see

changed?

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VISION AND STRATEGY

• Your people look to your leaders for

clarity on your org’s mission, vision,

values, objectives and overall strategy

• Define and publish your core values,

vision, strategy, a code of conduct and

other guiding principles

• Keep in mind that this is not a one-time

activity

• These must be reviewed regularly in team

meetings and communications and programs

should tie directly to them 30

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Get Engaged !

……WITH YOUR PEEPS

Part of communicating includes spending time with your people and getting to know them Managers and mentors should ensure that your best

people are being touched regularly by check in e-mails, phone calls and face-to-face meetings

Leaders in your org should connect with key people via lunch or coffee

Learn about your team members and what’s important to them Find out each person’s driving motivators and learn

what they most want to achieve in their career and in their personal life

Regularly ask what more you can do to support them in achieving their life’s goals – and then construct plans to do so

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OPENNESS AND COMMUNICATION

• When leadership is open to the ideas and

challenges of others, team members feel that

their opinions matter and their input can make a

difference

• When feedback drives tangible change, it

increases the likelihood that staff will stay

engaged with your org – because it begins to feel

like their own

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Can anyone spell R-E-T-E-N-T-I-O-N ?????

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COMMUNICATION TACTICS

• Teach your leaders to accept feedback

constructively

• Teach all leaders and managers to deliver

constructive feedback

• Be a role model for what “can get better”

• Form an employee advisory board

• Conduct employee engagement surveys every two

years

• Run a team challenge and make the feedback

process fun!

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LEGENDS OF OUR FALL …

YOUR ORG’S “ STORIES”

• There are both formal and informal

stories told around the water cooler

• The formal stories include:

• our history

• the story of evolution

• vision for the future

• how we differ from the “other guys”

• stories of successes and failures

• stories told to new employees in orientation

and training… and more 36

LEARN YOUR FIRM’S INFORMAL STORIES

Informal stories are difficult

to gauge and manage However, they reflect your org’s

culture more than any other

attribute

The heroes and villains and the

degree of hope and positivity that

story tellers convey tell so much

about what it feels like to work

there

Unfortunately, most leaders are

not privy to many informal stories

– they stop when you walk in the

room 37 HEY, REMEMBER THAT GUY THAT THEY WORKED TO DEATH ????

MANAGE YOUR INFORMAL STORIES

• Begin communicating the importance of

leaving the past in the past

• Practice avoiding stories about the past

unless they uplift or support your

intended culture

• Create new informal stories by creating

new experiences under the new cultural

“feel” and encouraging people to share

those stories

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YOUR FIRM’S FORMAL STORIES

• These stories are fairly easy to manage,

because they are typically “published” by

leaders or administrators

• Formal stories should:

• Reflect established values and beliefs

• Strike the right tone and degree of openness

you’re striving for

• Focus more on the difference your org makes

rather than the vague “how great we are”

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Driving Cultural Change

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LEADING CHANGE

As a leader, you manage change as you

enhance your org’s culture

Change usually starts slow and faces

resistance

There is inevitably a “tipping point” where

mass adoption of the change occurs

It is our job as leaders to help our team, clients

(and ourselves) reach that tipping point

smoothly and within the timeline needed

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©Copyright Kennedy and Coe, LLC 2010 All rights reserved.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT CURVE

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34%

Graphic source: http://blog.mjelly.com

2.5%

13.5%

34%

16%

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Awareness – Create an understanding for the need to change – I.E. Why is the

change necessary? Why is it happening now? What is wrong with what we are doing

today? What will happen if we don’t change? What’s in it for the individuals?

Desire – Create the desire to support and take part in the change .

Knowledge – Give knowledge so people can understand how to change and what to

do – I.E. providing training and education, detailed understanding of new tasks,

processes and systems, and understanding new roles and responsibilities.

Ability – Provide the skills to implement change on a day to day basis – I.E. Providing

day to day involvement, access to subject matter experts, provide effect performance

monitoring, hands on exercise during training.

Reinforcement – Create the ability and environment to sustaining the change and

keep it going, keeping the momentum going. – I.E. Celebrations and recognition,

rewards, feedback to and from employees, audits and performance measurement

systems, accountability systems.

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ADKAR

CHANGE MANAGEMENT SUCCESS

FACTORS

• Lead cultural change by example

• Be open to new ways of doing things

• Embrace the change yourself

• Stay positive in the face of change

• Communicate, communicate, communicate

• Set expectations and be honest about the good and the bad

• Provide updates and status

• Use different mediums to address the different

communication and learning styles of others

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