Editor's view, Inside Track, March 2011
We've weathered the storm...now what?
Almost every organisation has had to make difficult decisions over the past twelve months. Businesses have cut back on the essentials until life in some companies feels comparatively Spartan. In many cases, redundancies have left staff feeling bruised and working hard to find new ways to deliver at greater pace and with greater efficiency. In this harsh new reality for many private and public sector organisations, many leaders are asking themselves – how can we motivate our people?
The answer for many clients we work with is a renewed focus on organisational culture. Leaders are taking a look at what has happened to organisational culture in the past twelve months – what rules were unknowingly rewritten while everyone was trying to balance the books? What have those difficult decisions (even if well handled) done to the company narrative or the collective sense of ‘how we do things round here’? And what does this mean for us all the future?
Part of this process involves understanding (and helping others to understand) what has happened already by telling a coherent story. One CEO we work with has taken every opportunity over the past nine months to talk through the journey the company has been on over the past few years – and the very personal impact that has had for him and those close to him. After nine months, his message – that the process has been painful, but it is paying off – is starting to filter through to staff on the shop floor. The sense of panic can be replaced by a greater confidence in the future.
We can take some lessons from the process we went through with Andy Rose and the team from Balfour Beatty (see ‘Eating the Elephant: how do I tackle the really difficult issues?’). The process the team went through to tackle the thorny issue of safety can equally be applied to the challenge of focusing on organisational culture:
- Shape the vision together: what are we like at the moment and how do we need to be to be successful in the future?
- Reframe the issue – do we need to change the way we think about our culture to get the most out of our people?
- Share ownership – involve others to ensure a strong message which binds people together
- Create a buzz – communicate to unleash the energy of the organisation
- Support leaders to deliver – give leaders the (new) tools they need
- Identify your ‘vital signs’. What gets measured gets done – so how will we know if we have succeeded?
Looking to the future, the challenge for many organisations now is to create together a new, collective narrative (what we are here for and how we work together) which has the power to motivate and sustain the best people, now and in the long term.
