CULTURE MATTERS!

The culture of an organisation is so important and shapes and controls almost everything that happens.

Culture is 'how we do things around here' and divides into three aspects that are inextricably linked:

• Assumptions: beliefs, perceptions, thoughts and feelings.
• Values: goals, strategies and philosophies.
• Systems: visible, day-to-day organisational structures and processes.

Any organisation, in pursuit of excellence, needs to carefully consider the factors that shape culture, the characteristics of culture and the impact of culture and communicate,organise, lead, feedback, manage and create...

• Communicate, communicate, communicate: communicate passionately and personally to ensure that everyone understands the new cultural values and how they are aligned to the organisation’s strategic direction.
• Organise, organize, organize: develop events and activities where everyone can engage directly with the cultural change and understand how their role will support the organisation’s future success
• Lead, lead, lead: establish a leadership programme where everyone can measure their actions and behaviours against those expected in the new culture.
• Feedback, feedback, feedback: change reward and performance measurement systems to encourage the demonstration of new shared values.
• Manage, manage, manage: revise management processes so that recruitment, induction, development and evaluation practices incorporate the new shared values.
• Create, create, create: adapt beautiful systems, processes and procedures to reinforce the new culture.