What is Culture and How do You Execute Culture Change?

“Culture isn't just one aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organisation is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.” - Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Former CEO of IBM

It’s true. Culture influences every area of your business - from its structure, social systems, policies and procedures to the beliefs, principles and behaviours of your people. 

Every business has a culture and it directly impacts your ability to attract and retain the right talent, drive effective employee engagement, boost their wellbeing and improve business performance. 

Here we discuss how to identify your workplace culture, when change is needed, and examples of businesses successfully encouraging powerful culture changes. 

What is Culture Change? 

Often a culture develops on its own, as a company grows. In the beginning, values reflect that of the founders’ core qualities and desires for the business’ future. But as new employees join and new partnerships are formed, this influences the culture and it starts to evolve.  

A culture developed unchecked can result in one that isn’t helpful for driving business success. You’ll notice things like ineffective communication, clashing behaviours and poor employee engagement. Examples of this are: 

  • employees are frustrated by slow decision making

  • there’s a general sense of disengagement

  • competitors are moving at pace, but your business is slow to advance

  • employees react to problems and wait to be told what to do instead of proactively seeking approval for self-made solutions 

Planned culture change can be the ultimate remedy for these issues. But it’s not a quick and simple transformation - it’s a large-scale undertaking that requires research, planning, collaboration, strategic and creative approaches, commitment and time. 

How to manage culture change in the workplace?

Many businesses struggle to pin down their culture. That’s because culture doesn’t feel tangible, however, you can certainly feel when it’s working and when it isn’t. For example, companies with a poor culture often experience a high rate of employee turnover, increased absenteeism, a lack of trust in leadership and a bad reputation. 

executing business culture change

To identify your workplace culture, you need to take the time to discuss what your culture is, involving a wide cross-section of the organisation, considering your business’:

  • stories and narratives

  • rituals, ceremonies and symbolism

  • core beliefs, mission and history

  • values

  • communication network

  • organisation structure 

  • systems, processes, procedures and ways of working

  • role models, opinion formers and behaviours 

If you believe your culture is working, then consider which parts need to be sustained and how you can promote these more. On the other hand, if your culture isn’t supporting your vision for the business, it might be time to plan and deliver change. 

Identify and analyse your values 

When approaching culture change, a good place to start is looking at your organisation’s values. Because your values are what you and your employees live by every day. 

By ‘living’ them, we mean using values as guiding principles when making decisions in all aspects of the business, such as:

  • hiring new employees

  • onboarding new hires

  • developing company policies

  • communicating inside your business

  • marketing the business

  • delivering customer service

  • rewarding employees

This is how a strong culture is formed. You only need to look at some of the leading businesses in the world to see this..

executing culture change

For example, here are Coca-Cola’s core values:

  • Leadership: The courage to shape a better future

  • Collaboration: Leverage collective genius

  • Integrity: Be real

  • Accountability: If it is to be, it’s up to me

  • Passion: Committed in heart and mind

  • Diversity: As inclusive as our brands

  • Quality: What we do, we do well

By clearly setting out the expected approach to work in their values, Coca Cola guides managers and employees on how to behave and carry out key business decisions.

Sticking to these behaviours is what develops the desired culture. And, as it grows stronger, the business can attract and retain the right talent, driving down turnover and boosting employee engagement.

In Coca Cola’s case, it now has a worldwide team that is rich in diverse people, talent and ideas. This has produced an inclusive, collaborative and innovative culture that has seen the Company grow from strength to strength. 

If you have any burning questions about what we’ve discussed today, feel free to contact us on 07812 343310 or email us at hello@enthuse-comms.co.uk. 

Mike Pyeculture, cultural change, change