Do you manage your organization culture, or does it manage you?

Toyota has been recently under fire due to its recalls and quality issues. It is drawing additional attention because Toyota brand used to represent quality. What happened? Quality and industry experts suggest that Toyota management veered away from its own corporate culture based on respect for people and continuous improvement – the Toyota Way – and it’s now paying the price. Organization culture is such a nebulous concept. The visible parts are quite obvious for the new comer, such as the dress code, how punctually meetings start, or how fast paced the work is. But the invisible norms and values you have to learn over time, e.g. how people work together, how they share information, and what the level of trust is between people and departments. Every organization has a culture, whether it’s stated or not. Sometimes the articulated culture in printed brochures can be in conflict with the actual informal culture. When this happens, the leadership efforts to manage the culture lose credibility. It’s fine to be aspirational in culture statements, but it’s not OK to be totally clueless. The steps to manage organization culture are these: 1. Assess the current culture. Know the baseline. A combination of focus groups and surveys typically accomplish this task most efficiently. 2. Articulate the desired culture. This should have a connection with the organization’s vision, with respect for its past. The desired culture is often a mixture between realistic description of the actual culture and the description of the ideal culture where the organization is striving for. 3. Weave the culture into everyday actions and decisions. Start with the selection and promotion criteria. Reinforce it in all training and development. When people are recognized, it is done based on the cultural values. In any organization, employees note that resources are allocated on the most important priorities. Thus, resource allocation should also be true to the cultural values. 4. Measure the culture development. Do frequent checks on how your workforce perceives the culture. Annual surveys are a good yardstick to create trending data. At the launch, you may even measure the culture twice a year, as long as you are prepared to act on the survey feedback. Equally important as strengthening the culture is to be aware of actions and decisions that are counterproductive. Every time a decision is made where the cultural values were not used, it puts into question the organization culture. For example, if a company declares that work life balance is one of its core values but frequently recognizes employees who put in long hours, it contradicts its own values. Or, if a company who promotes a customer-focused culture cuts customer service resources before touching other departments, it may have to rethink its priorities. Usually, compromises and tough times bring out the true colors. Those that are true to their values will have a guiding star for their decision making and will be able to make consistent decisions and strengthen their external brand as well as their employment brand.

[Via http://forteconsulting.wordpress.com]

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