Why Embracing Culture Change Can Help To Build Healthier Organisations

Let’s talk about company culture.

You’ve heard the term 1000 times before, from 100s of different people in all manner of positions, who all confidently explain it in slightly different ways. You might even think you have a decent grasp on what it actually is. Well, at its most fundamental, a company’s culture tells people how things really work, what is acceptable, and who fits in the organisation. This simple truth underscores why the importance of company culture cannot be overstated. It’s far more than just a buzzword; in fact it’s one of the most critical elements in determining an organisation’s success.

Culture shapes every aspect of an organisation, from daily operations to long-term strategy and while a strong culture can drive success, it can also lead to detrimental consequences. Employees who don’t align with the culture may leave if they don’t fit, or worse, try to change themselves to fit in. Those who stay feel pressure to conform, leading to a loss of diversity and creativity. Ironically, this process often causes organisations to lose the very qualities they initially hired people for – their unique perspectives, attitudes, and knowledge. Over time, this cultural homogenization will leave a company less capable of change, despite adaptability being considered by most to be a crucial element for growth. Moreover, culture can limit what’s possible, making some innovations, efficiencies, or behaviours out of bounds for what is achievable with change programmes. In extreme cases, problems can get hidden, and toxic behaviours can become so embedded that change can seem impossible.

It all sounds a bit daunting, doesn’t it? Well, I’ll be honest with you – getting a healthy company culture is complex. It’s difficult, often unpredictable and will require ongoing effort and commitment from leadership and all levels of an organisation.

But here’s the good news: it’s not only possible, it’s entirely doable. With a few key ideas in mind and a willingness to take action, you can transform your company culture into a powerful driver of success. And the best part? You don’t have to go it alone. We’re here to guide you through the process, teaching you these crucial concepts as you go.

The payoff? It can have a truly transformative effect on business outcomes. When employees feel valued, respected, and aligned with where the company is going, they are more likely to be engaged, motivated, and productive. A positive culture can foster innovation, as employees feel empowered to take risks and think creatively, creating new possibilities for better customer service, faster ways of working and more profitable products. It can also strengthen resilience in the face of challenges, as a united, diverse and supportive workforce is better equipped to weather storms and adapt to change. Plus, with 88 per cent of jobseekers valuing a positive company culture, it’s a powerful way to attract and retain top talent to your business.

So, what strategies can leaders follow to better embrace culture change and just how can it help to cultivate a healthier organisation?

1. Embrace Emergent Strategies

Top-heavy management stifles innovation and agility within a company by centralising decision-making at senior levels, limiting the organisation’s ability to adapt to change and harness the knowledge and talents of its workforce. A hierarchical structure can also impact negatively on relationships inhibiting communication, collaboration, and trust, leading to a disconnect between leaders and frontline workers. Often this manifests with employees hiding problems from leaders until they become catastrophic – as has happened in some headline cases recently, like the Royal Mail.

As a leader, you often feel your job is to be in charge and in control. While this is often true, sometimes this strength can get in your own way. Embracing emergent strategies instead means creating the conditions for good things to happen – and then stepping back with trust, while keeping observant of what happens next so that you can nudge rather than direct.

By adopting emergent strategies to culture, you create room for others to make decisions and choices outside the top echelons of management. Some of those choices may be better than any you could make – because individuals and teams may see how to operationalise strategy or deliver performance in ways that aren’t visible at the top of the hierarchy. As well as allowing businesses to access a wealth of diverse perspectives and insights, emergent strategies also promote an organisation-wide culture of ownership and accountability.

2. Be Aware Of Ongoing Culture Shifts – Both Positive & Undesired

Culture doesn’t follow a linear progression. Something that’s so heavily influenced by perception and opinion won’t evolve in ways you can easily predict. Therefore, it’s crucial for leaders to actively observe their culture and notice when things are going in an undesired direction. This might mean ways of listening beyond your usual contacts.

In one survey, 83 per cent of employees said they are not heard ‘fairly or equally’ by business leaders, while three-fifths believe their opinions are ignored. Poor communication within a company can lead to staff feeling disenfranchised or underrepresented, resulting in plummeting morale and productivity which, ultimately, impacts organisational effectiveness.

While the instinctive reaction might be to implement and encourage more open dialogue with employees, this approach will only be effective if leaders are also prepared to shift and make adjustments when necessary. Regularly assessing progress towards cultural objectives and soliciting feedback from employees allows business leaders to adapt to ongoing developments and allows for positive changes to naturally emerge.

3. Create A Story Framework

Stories are powerful in shaping company culture. The stories people hear at the coffee machine or the ones they’re told when they first join the organisation will shape their behaviour more than almost anything else. It’s not just about open communication or shared language, but about creating a shared sense of meaning. Every employee has a different story about the organisation – where it’s come from, what it means to them, what they hope for, what they’re worried about. The clashes between these invisible, unconscious stories can create tensions that block progress. Uncovering these stories and helping everyone see the differences becomes crucial.

There are logistical challenges to obtaining everyone’s views openly and honestly, particularly in large organisations. Staff may be reluctant to talk negatively about the company in face-to-face interviews, while quantitative surveys such as tick-box exercises with predetermined questions or criteria can inhibit honest discussion of the issues that matter most to employees. Some of the issues you need to understand may not even be in people’s conscious awareness. For teams, facilitated workshops can open up these stories and use them to help the team improve its performance. At larger scales, tools such as SenseMaker® can collect narratives from across the organisation, opening up valuable insights into their experiences and perceptions – and highlight what you as a leader might do next.

For example, narrative workshops have highlighted instances where senior management’s dream future actually contained elements of frontline staff’s nightmare scenario – meaning the two groups were unknowingly in constant tension, pulling against each other. Other workshops have helped different disciplines (engineers, administrators, management, and customer staff) to see each other and develop a common direction and set of priorities for the year. It’s important to share stories and examples to achieve this shared meaning. However, the goal is not to have everyone think the same but to foster a shared understanding while allowing for differences. Look for examples of things happening in the organisation that you want more of and less of, and use these examples to help people understand what changes are desired in the culture. A useful phrase to remember is “What might we do to create more examples like these and fewer like those?”

4. Monitor Progress And Make Adjustments

Finally, monitoring progress and adjusting as needed is crucial for sustained cultural change. Being determined to stick to one approach can hinder innovation and growth, as this can result in overlooking the different needs and perspectives of employees and lead to stagnation rather than meaningful transformation. It’s important to remember that the organisation will continue to evolve – it’s a complex system. As the saying goes, “a static system [or culture] is a deteriorating one.” If you’re not monitoring and working on the culture, it’s going to be sliding away from you.

Regularly assessing progress towards cultural objectives and soliciting feedback from employees allows business leaders to change their approach as necessary and allows employees to play an active role in reshaping the company culture. Transparency throughout the process is also key, as by openly acknowledging both successes and challenges, leaders can further build trust and encourage continued engagement from employees.

Find Out More About How You Positively Change Company Culture

If you are planning to reshape your company’s culture model, talk to the experts at Narrate today to find out more about how we can help you to achieve meaningful and long-lasting change.