When customers' expectations and requirements change and competitors advance their positions, we are challenged to alter the organization's collective behavior - the organization's culture. Not only once, but as a continuous improvement process. A focused effort on shaping the organizational culture is a precondition for creating motivation and commitment, and for being able to realize goals and strategies.
Organizational culture can be defined in different ways. It is a complex phenomenon, but simply put, the culture is an expression of the organization's collective behavior, shaped and influenced by a variety of factors such as shared experiences, values, leadership, language and symbols. The sum of these collective behaviors may switch from supporting an overall business strategy to undermining the strategy.
In times of change, when the economy is shifting faster than ever before, when goals and strategies are constantly reformulated, the survival of organizations will largely depend upon the ability to shift the collective behavior. Change requires us to start behaving partially in a new way. We need to stop some behaviors and strengthen others. The need for change competence has increased for most organizations.
Organizational culture is the greatest asset in certain businesses, while to other businesses it represents one of their major risk areas. There are many reasons for why such a large proportion of initiatives for change are failing. The explanation is found in how one deals with the business culture – when it is not handled with insight and determination, "culture defeats strategy every time" unfortunately becomes a likely scenario.
The goal should be to create an organizational culture that engages and motivates its employees – a workplace where employees have the desire to grow and to contribute their knowledge, experience and expertise. The challenge is to understand what motivates the employees on a deeper level. When we reach an understanding of what is motivating and engaging, we can shift the employee’s behavior in the right direction in order to overcome obstacles and challenges.
Realizing employees' full potential, their ability and their maximum productivity will be management's biggest and most important challenge ahead, as it provides a basic foundation for creating a strategic competitive advantage.
A business that is staffed with talents who can agree on goals and on the way forward, who share core values and possess a high degree of motivation for their work and a commitment to business goals is a unique asset for any business. If we picture the opposite – a business that lacks talent, with a weak consensus and low motivation – it becomes clear which of these two business profiles is most likely to create long-term customer value, competitive advantage and shareholder value.
READ MORE ABOUT HOW WE ARE STRENGTHENING THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, AND FINDING THE PATH TO MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT WHICH SUPPORTS OUR CUSTOMERS GOALS AND STRATEGY:
Leadership support in change management and transformation
Development of a motivating and engaging value system
Development of high performance teams
Team building