Four steps to change a corporate culture

Culture, in itself, is a complex topic. It is assessed and perceived differently depending on the individual. I believe that every employee defines the term “culture” differently and certainly associates different topics and priorities with it.

In my HR experience, culture is often underestimated. Many organizations do not make it a top priority, or they only pretend to do so. I rarely meet managers who stop by my office and say, “Hey, Agnes, I wanted to share a cultural topic with you that I believe we should work on!”

Not every manager needs to make culture their number one priority, but if you ignore it, culture has the power to ruin your company. Unhappy employees. A lack of motivation. Passive working styles. Increasing turnover. All leading to lower sales.

Organizations with a continuous focus on cultural topics understand how multilayered this work is. However, for the sake of simplicity, I would like to share four basic rules. I say "basic" because they are not rocket science; they are easy to follow. If you follow them consistently over months—and eventually years—you will see a positive change in your organization.

1. Make culture a topic.

How often do you address cultural topics? Is it seen as a management responsibility? Do you have key performance indicators that support and analyze your progress?

2. Set a focus.

There is no need to improve ten different topics in parallel. Actually, having too many priorities might lead to never finishing them or making progress too slowly. Pick 3–5 topics with varying complexity (quick wins versus long-term changes) and make sure that a broad majority of your workforce is focused on the same goals.

3. Talk about it.

Regular, targeted communication is key to making a topic a priority. If a cultural topic is important to you, you should speak about it every day. Not necessarily with the same group of people, but in different meetings and by using various communication channels. This approach will help you ingrain the importance—and the necessary change—into your daily business. If something feels as routine as brushing your teeth, then it is ingrained.

4. Most importantly: Role models.

Only if you practice what you preach—and only if the group of role models grows—will you actually live your vision of a better culture. Everything else is artificial and feels fake to the employees.

Give it a try!

If—after a year of constant effort—you do not see the necessary changes, go back to step 2 and reconsider your focus areas. Maybe you did not choose the most meaningful ones in the first place. Maybe your organization has changed in the interim and needs something different. Or maybe you communicated, but people did not understand your message.

See it as a work in progress. With cultural topics, you will never reach a "final state." People evolve. Businesses evolve. You need to find a way to adapt and—ideally—understand what will be needed in the future to proactively steer the organization.