Benefits of Cultural Transformation.
Any organization with a strong positive culture gains tangible and intangible benefits. The intangible benefits could not be any more obvious than they already are. Some intangible benefits are so vital that you simply can’t estimate their value to a company
First, we discover that current employees and those that want to work in such organizations have a tendency of staying for longer periods of time than in a company lacking a strong culture. Additionally, such companies with strong cultural practices, frequently make it into lists of great places to work such as the “Top 100” list. People flock to such companies knowing that these companies have a lot to offer and that the company is doing revolutionary things. People want to be part of the revolution.
Meanwhile, the tangible benefits cannot be neglected. In 2018 a study was carried out by a chief executive which discovered that companies that had leaders who advocated for positive company culture and positive cultural transformations performed a lot better than others who did not pay much attention to culture. These culturally inclined companies experienced a revenue growth rate higher than other companies by an astonishing 36%. In essence, companies who neglect company culture or think that it takes care of itself could be losing money. We will now pay attention to how exactly company culture could be influential.
Customer Service:
A prime example of ways company culture could bring both tangible and intangible benefits to a company is the company`s customer service.
When dealing with a company that does not really pay much attention to company culture or views it as a secondary concern, it would be obvious from the interaction you would have with the agent or employee. You would not have had the best customer service treatment.
But on the other hand, if you walk into a company that preaches company culture, where these cultures are reflected by every staff, where customer satisfaction is a priority, you would know. This is because the service you receive would be much better when compared with the earlier scenario.
These two scenarios simply serve to show that company culture is something that permeates throughout a company. If left to care for itself or totally neglected by the leadership, it would be evident right from the front desk. But vice versa would be the case for a company with fundamental cultures. Besides, it is next to impossible for a company with bad leadership to house an outstanding customer service department that does its job perfectly (providing complete customer satisfaction).
It is next to impossible for a company with bad leadership to house an outstanding culture.
Excellent Company Culture Grows Agility:
The business scene today is changing and evolving rapidly, hence there is no room for tardiness at all. Extreme agility is the key. A higher degree of agility is the reason a smaller start-up would be able to overtake less agile and stiffer competitors. At times this is the case no matter how much bigger the competitors are.
Agility in a business setting is all about a more rapid and extremely satisfactory response to customer needs than your competitors. This sort of agility is nearly impossible in a company where culture is simply summarized in a sentence, “we have always done it this way”. This is so because as mentioned earlier, the business scene is dynamic and rapidly evolving. The evolution will not wait for you to update your stiff company culture. But when a great culture is in play, every employee is able to make on-the-spot decisions (at times) based on the already existing core cultures of the company. Agility enables the employees respond more rapidly and in a satisfactory manner to customer needs. Today, the employees are the party that benefits the most from great company culture.
The Golden Standard:
What should you strive to achieve and what would be an acceptable result? Well, just the knowledge of company culture alone is vital. But it is not enough, not by a long shot. Companies that treasure cultural transformations strive extremely hard to lay the groundwork for changes in the future. This effort may at times involve organizing executive coaching sessions to prepare members in the top leadership positions for a change. At times, it could even involve a change in leadership.
This change is gradual and may not be entirely thorough. This is the case because most companies have their strong points. The transformation would then involve determining exactly what the strong point of your company culture is and further building on that. This makes it vital to occasionally reviewing the structure of the organization, including the power structure and the decision-making process to see if they are up-to-date or require modification.
Communication with employees at all levels is also vital as it aids in building a strong or stronger culture. Discovering what serves as motivation and what serves as a discouragement to your employees would be a giant step in developing the most suitable company culture for your organization. Besides, turnovers at any level of operation at all represent a cost, no matter how little.
In conclusion, listening is vital. I mean really listening to your employees is pertinent. Employees everywhere simply want to thoroughly do their jobs and receive appropriate compensation for it. They also want to be valued, like every other human being. Nobody is looking for an excuse to lodge a complaint. So, whenever a complaint is brought to the higher-ups it is the duty of the leaders to pay attention. Although it is impossible to fix every single thing for every employee, it could aid the leadership in identifying underlying problems before the bottom line is affected.
Investment in executive coaching as a business is mainly with the aim of building a more suitable company culture. Allowing the culture to develop on its own could be quite deadly. This is because it poor processes and improper attitudes to intrude into the culture. These problems would be more difficult to eliminate in the future.
This cultural transformation is not simply to convince the leadership of a company that they are doing a good job because the frontline workforce is contented. It is a vital step for any business as it induces both tangible and intangible benefits. Cultural transformation should be a given for any business in 2019, if it is not already.
If you would like to further develop your leadership effectiveness or the leaders in your organization to best your organization for cultural transformation, please find more information on the Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching program through the link below. Recently named one of the top three advanced leadership development programs in the world, it is a 9 to 12 month “immersive” leadership and personal growth journey that unlocks and unleashes a leader’s full potential so they truly become the best leaders and people they can be.
