- Understanding the Impact of Organizational Culture on Career development
- Understanding Cultural Change and Its Importance in career development
- Reasons for Culture Change in Organizations
- DOES CULTURAL CHANGE REQUIRE A MOVEMENT?
- Strategies for Cultural Change
- BrainApps – Revolutionizing Personal Growth for Career Development and Soft Skills
- Leading a Cultural Movement: Best Practices
- Changing Culture Leads to Changing Habits and Behaviors
- The Importance of Cultural Change for Career and Soft Skills Development
Understanding the Impact of Organizational Culture on Career development
When it comes down to it, the culture of a company is what shapes the day-to-day experience of its employees. From interactions with team members and managers to the systems and tools they use daily, the organizational culture is always at play.
It’s important to remember that every behavior within a company is a reflection of its culture. Leaders and workers alike understand this firsthand, experiencing the impact of their actions being either rewarded or discouraged accordingly.
Technology and systems also play a significant role in shaping a company’s culture. This is because they can make certain behaviors easier or harder to adopt. For example, a company that values collaboration but fails to provide Remote work collaboration tools cannot expect to foster a collaborative culture.
If you’re looking to change the culture within your organization, it’s essential to understand what this means and what’s required to achieve such change. Hearing from individuals who have gone through cultural changes can also provide useful recommendations for the best practices during this process.
Understanding Cultural Change and Its Importance in career development
Cultural change refers to the transformation of societal traits, patterns, and norms resulting from varied factors such as invention, migration, and discovery. Similarly, organizations experience cultural change due to mergers or acquisitions. Usually, when an organization is in crisis, there is a top-down need for culture change. Cultural change occurs when an organization commits to improving its practices, beliefs, and processes to create a better work environment. Most culture changes happen as a collective reaction to a movement led by “motion makers.” Harnessing cultural change can impact career development positively. Embracing change and being a “motion maker” can boost professional growth, creativity, and adaptability. In contrast, resisting cultural change can stunt career development and lead to irrelevance in a fast-paced work environment. Therefore, accepting and adapting to cultural changes can enhance career prospects and enable personal and organizational growth.
Reasons for Culture Change in Organizations
Organizations are constantly evolving, and cultural change is necessary for many reasons. Here are some common scenarios that may require a cultural shift in an organization:
– Mergers and Acquisitions: When two organizations with distinct corporate cultures merge, a cultural shift may become necessary. The resulting organization may adopt the dominant culture or create a new one.
– New Leadership: The arrival of a new leader, such as a CEO, can bring new ideas and expectations that affect the organization’s culture. New leadership often comes with the expectation of change, and the leader may bring in their own team to support the cultural change plan.
– Social Shifts: Social shifts can shine a light on old mindsets, such as those rooted in sexism, ageism, racism, or intolerance. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging have become critical practices in a majority of companies recently because employees and society demanded it.
– Technological Advances: Advances in technology can force organizations to rethink or reinvent their workflow. For example, the move to paperless offices required companies to retrain their people to use computers and scanners, deal with cybersecurity, compliance, and storage issues.
– Loss of Competitiveness: A company’s declining performance, loss of market share, or decreasing profitability can signal that the culture is not working in the market or for talent.
– New Workforce Models: The shift to remote work during the pandemic dramatically changed how we communicate, collaborate, and produce work. The lines of defined working hours became blurred, and hybrid work schedules and full remote work became the norm.
– Global Events: Global events like financial shocks, wars, and pandemics can trigger new behaviors and a reassessment of values and preferences, leading to a cultural shift in organizations.
Culture change is hard, but it is necessary for organizations to adapt to new realities and stay competitive. Whether it’s adapting to new technology or social norms, responding to global events or new leadership, organizations that are willing to embrace cultural change are more likely to succeed in the long run.
DOES CULTURAL CHANGE REQUIRE A MOVEMENT?
While cultural change can occur spontaneously without a movement, creating deliberate change in an organization’s culture requires a movement. It is necessary to understand what a movement is and who initiates it to successfully bring about desired changes.
A movement is a call to action that can be sparked by a catalyst, whether it be a feeling of discontent, a need, or an external event. It is then propelled by a group of people who share a common vision. This group of people is not necessarily made up of leaders, but rather individuals who are empowered to make significant changes at the grassroots level.
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When someone within the organization decides to start a movement to change the culture, that person becomes the catalyst for change. The movement gains momentum through its ability to spread to others, not necessarily through individual strength. This can be fueled by deep-seated beliefs within the organization, which align with the vision for change.
If an organization aims to change its culture, developing a movement can be empowering. By building a passionate group of people who are willing to work together to affect change, the culture of the organization can be transformed more intentionally than through a spontaneous cultural shift.
Strategies for Cultural Change
Changing a company’s culture can be a daunting task that requires more than just a change management plan or a communications plan. According to successful entrepreneur Rachel, culture change is best experienced and felt rather than just spoken into existence. In her experience, there are a few strategies that leaders can use to change the culture within their organization.
When initiating a cultural shift, it is important for leaders to acknowledge that things need to change and identify why. However, it is not enough to make a public statement. To bring true change, leaders must develop a clear vision of the new culture, build a team, and have a plan to move from point A to point B. Rachel suggests removing distractions and going off-site to focus on the upcoming change. This can be especially helpful if you want to do a deep dive into the change with your team.
When rolling out the change to the rest of the organization, Rachel suggests planning events or creating virtual spaces to help people get out of their routine and comfort zones. It is important to create a sense of solidarity and daily reminders that the organization is moving in a new direction. Leaders can do this by branding the shift and plastering it on everything from t-shirts to posters. However, it is important to note that branding and slogans alone do not create change.
Leaders must practice a light touch and avoid heavy-handed management styles. While friction is an inevitable part of change, rushing it may lead to people feeling like they have no agency or control over their jobs. It is important to expect some opposition and develop a long-term strategy. Change that sticks is often gradual and natural.
In conclusion, if you’re looking to change the culture of your organization, it is important to develop a clear vision, create a team, and have a plan. Removing distractions and getting off-site can help focus your team, and branding the change helps reinforce its importance. However, it is important to remember that change is not immediate and requires time for people to adjust. By keeping these strategies in mind, leaders can create a culture that everyone can become part of.
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Leading a Cultural Movement: Best Practices
Are you looking to drive a cultural movement in your organization? Here are some best practices that you can follow to get started:
Find Your “Why”
It’s essential to connect your staff with the deeper meaning of your organization’s mission. For instance, by creating software that improves customers’ lives, your planned change initiative can help enhance the mission. Ensure that the change is connected to the employees, for example, by saying, “Improved communication helps me succeed in my job and enhance our customers’ lives.” Such an approach is a win-win for everyone involved.
Create an Alliance
Having a group of supporters, cheerleaders, strategic thinkers, and influencers within your organization can help support the roll-out of the cultural change. These are your motion makers, who will help keep the change going and undermine any nay-sayers.
Involve HR from the Get-go
Preparing HR for upcoming shifts is crucial to the success of any cultural change. Involving stakeholders early on, particularly the ones responsible for training and managing the change, creates alignment and reduces the risk of errors and waning interest.
Accountability and Communication are Key
Leaders must be accountable for upcoming changes and must expect friction that will follow the implementation of the plan. Setting realistic expectations eases concerns that may arise. Clear communication of the change and its expected outcome is essential.
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Changing Culture Leads to Changing Habits and Behaviors
For individuals or groups, changing habits requires certain best practices. It is essential to envision the desired outcome, approach it slowly, and expect challenges.
Envision the results
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* Let people observe, sense, and explore the change. Provide a glimpse of how life would be after adopting the shift. More show, less talk.
* Then, connect every employee with the transformation. How can their role contribute to the change? What is in it for them? Give them something to look forward to, a better work experience.
Take it slow
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* Explain the steps involved and establish expectations and timeframes. Overloading people with too much change leads to resistance.
* Chunk the phases that require adjustment. Almost all transformations need upskilling and mindset shift.
* Your change catalysts are your messengers. Ensure they are on board, fully comprehend the changes and can communicate them effectively.
* Slow and steady gains momentum. It takes time.
Expect problems
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* Anticipate the obstacles. Devise a plan for challenging times. Identify potential objections or obstacles and ways to overcome them. Prepare for the tough times.
* Regularly take a pulse check. Get feedback from managers and employees to assess how things are progressing. If the change is losing steam, re-communicate it and provide people with a glimpse of what “will be” to reignite enthusiasm.
The Importance of Cultural Change for Career and Soft Skills Development
Cultural change is a difficult task. It requires movers and shakers, as well as time, to achieve success. However, change can be met with resistance, as fear is often sparked by the unknown.
To implement lasting change within an organization, it is important to begin with a well-planned, strategic vision. This vision should connect your team to the mission of the organization. From there, it is vital to show how the proposed change will deepen their connection to the mission and their individual positions.
Remember, it takes both time and patience for both individuals and organizations to adapt to cultural changes. However, advancements in technology have made it easier than ever to facilitate and maintain change. For instance, BrainApps has proven success through sustained online courses and personalized support. As managers and leaders learn to change their own behaviors, their modeling enables the cultural change of a movement to be more than just a momentary trend.
Take initiative in your own career and soft skills development by embracing cultural change. By doing so, you’ll demonstrate your adaptability and openness to new ideas, ultimately becoming a more valued employee.
