Managing company culture

Once it is deemed important that a change in company culture occur, the next stage is to ask: "How can that change be implemented and managed?" In implementing change, managers must be concerned about two things: how fast they can implement change and how much control they will have over the end result. 1

Traditional methods of implementing change have been ineffective. A typical example of the low-control, low- speed method is human resource development. Building teams from the bottom up is a strategy that takes a great deal of time to implement (low speed). In addition, experience has shown that the final result tends to be something other than what was originally envisioned (low control).

Instituting a formal planning process was originally a high-control, low-speed method of implementing change. The effect of planning on the organization had an impact after the employees had developed the experience and skills necessary to utilize the concept fully. In the beginning, managers had a great deal of control over the results of the planned process. However it is now argued that in many organizations strategic planning has become a routine, politicized part of the structure and does not help the organization adapt to changes in the environment. Thus, planning has moved from a strategy of high control and low speed to one of low control and low speed.

The same is true, it is argued, for structural solutions as a means of implementing change. Structural solutions include such things as decentralization and the splitting of the company into divisions. Originally a high-control, high-speed change method, it, too, has moved to low control and low speed. In the area of control, management has overestimated the durability of such change in the face of changes in the external environment. Consequently, structures tend to remain in place after the environment supporting such structures has changed. Thus, management loses control over the end result of the change. Similarly, management underestimates the time difference between changed structure and changed behavior. The result is a move from high speed to low speed.

To implement and manage a different culture requires the use of strategies over which the manager has high control, and which can be put into place relatively quickly. Three things can be controlled very quickly: symbols, the patterns of activity that are generated, and the settings chosen for any interactions.

Symbols within a company have three functions. First, they are descriptive of what the company is all about. Second, they can be used to control the energy within an organization by inspiring or motivating those within the company. Third, they maintain the system by reinforcing the way things are done and by guiding the way the company changes.

Symbols may be verbal or consist of specific actions or certain materials. Verbal symbols are such things as myths, legends, stories, slogans, jokes, rumors, or names. Consider the strength of Caterpillar's “24-Hour Parts Service Anywhere in the World”, IBM's (International Business Machines) “IBM Means Service”, and McDonald's' “Quality, Service, Cleanliness, and Value”, compared to the weaker “Delta gets you there”. (Gosh, I would hope so!) To the surprise of researchers, successful companies have qualitative rather than quantitative slogans on a two-to- one ratio.

Stories help preserve the culture of the company by conveying organizational values to newcomers. Thomas Watson, Jr., son of the founder of IBM, would tell of the nature lover who enjoyed seeing the wild ducks fly south each October. He began feeding the ducks. Soon several of them spent the winter in the pond on what was fed them instead of continuing the flight south. As time went on, they flew less and less. After several years they were so fat and lazy they could barely fly at all. The point he made was that it is possible to tame wild ducks but never to make tame ducks wild again. At IBM, it was the wild duck that would succeed, because the tame duck would never go anywhere.

While the story was used to express IBM's tolerance for the maverick innovator, one employee remarked upon hearing the story that: "even wild ducks fly in formation". This immediately became part of the wild ducks story, because it made the equally valid point that we must all go in the same direction.

Hotels and restaurants have their own stories of employees who struggled to work in a blinding snowstorm or managers who worked 20 hours straight after a tornado hit a nearby community.

Various actions are also symbolic of the way a company operates. Examples are rituals, parties, rites of passage, meals, and the way the day is started. Rituals give the culture a tangible, meaningful form. Rituals may include the honoring of retirees to demonstrate the importance of loyalty to the company. It may, as in the case of Disney, mean the times that management takes on a customer service job to show the importance of the guest. The manager who is willing to pitch in and get involved in the back of the house as well as in the more glamorous front jobs sends a powerful message to employees.

Certain college graduates bemoan the fact that as part of the company training program, they must peel carrots for two weeks. Surely, they argue, it does not take two weeks to learn the difficulties involved in this task. Yet this may be a rite of passage (like basic training) to show the importance of every detail in satisfying the customer.

In the hospitality industry, many operations are very class-conscious in the way meals are given to employees. Certain people are allowed to dine in the hotel's restaurants while others are relegated to the employee dining room. Managers can demonstrate their particular culture by setting democratic rules for employee meals and requiring that managers eat with employees, unless they are conducting business with a client.

Material symbols include status symbols, awards, badges, and pins. In a company with a strong culture, there are many opportunities for material symbols. It may be the pins, flags, and plaques at weekly Tupperware meetings or membership in IBM's Hundred Percent Club, for those who have consistently met their sales quota. The key is that the standards are set so that 80 per cent of the sales force will meet the goal and be able to join the club. Why is the quota so low? The key in any incentive is not to motivate the superstar; he or she will get there in any case. The trick is to offer an incentive to get above-average performance from the average performer. Setting the standard so that 80 per cent can attain it will do this.

How these symbols are used will determine their ultimate success or failure. The key to success is to apply these symbols of change as positive reinforcement in a consistent and frequent manner. It is far easier to get desired behavior by rewarding the positive than by trying to stamp out the negative. If customer service is important, have supervisors reward an Employee of the Moment whenever especially good service is seen.

Managers can further influence culture through the settings in which they interact. They imply the importance of a meeting by making a decision to attend. One hotel manager hired this author to develop and deliver an orientation program for new employees. For the first few sessions, the general manager attended for a few minutes to deliver his personal philosophy to the new employees. Thereafter it seemed that something more important always came up. The employees were told how important they were to management. But the actions of the manager belied the message.

The location of meetings are also important. Being summoned to the manager's office implies a more formal tone than when the manager drops in to the kitchen to discuss a problem. Selecting a formal setting for a meeting or party can imply greater status to it.

Management can use the meeting agenda to send signals. How much time is spent discussing costs against customer satisfaction? The order of items can be crucial. Some managers will put items unimportant to them at the top of an agenda so that by the time they reach the items they want approved, all dissension will be over.

Messages also can be sent based on who makes presentations at meetings. Does the general manager control the show, or are department managers urged to make presentations and proposals? The answer can tell a great deal about management style.

Last, those who control the minutes control the history of the meeting. Editing the proceedings of what has gone on can be done—not to distort the truth, but to emphasize what the manager wishes to stress.