Today, culture can be linked to the various sides of the business world. It has been found that organizations with strong cultures often have happier employees, which results in more productivity and better business. In fact, there have been pieces of evidence that core values are related to the performance of a business. For instance, F1 championship winners are the direct result of a highly competitive culture. While each company’s view on this topic is different, the secret lies in each organization's custom way of applying it.
It only means that culture is an integral part of improved working. Hence, leaders cannot simply dismiss the benefits of cultural changes as a soft element that does not impact the financial statement of the year. In this article, we will talk about cultural changes in your company.
Why Are Cultural Changes So Important?
According to research, it has been found that cultural experiences that are focused on performance showcase better financial growth. Additional studies have proven cultural changes in the team can positively impact the economic performance of any organization in the long run. Based on the type of culture, it can prove to be beneficial or detrimental to the performance. It has also been concluded that flexibility, internal communication, and risk-taking are essential aspects that can drive business performance.
Core culture and values correlate directly with the performance of the business, which is directly related to employee satisfaction and core value perceptions. Studies have shown that companies with higher core value index are more capable of outperforming those with lower core value index scores.
How Do Employees Describe Cultural Changes In The Workplace?
One of the toughest tasks for company leaders is to diagnose the need for cultural changes in the workplace, especially when improving the business results. If you define culture in a more real-life term, it will take on a more meaningful form. This way, leaders will be able to distinguish between cultural characteristics and determine where the problem exists. In turn, you will be able to make the required changes.
It matters a lot about learning to deal with changes in culture for one group – the employees. It is essential to look into the culture by surveying the people that work in your company and understand what they are looking for or think. These employees have a direct relationship to the experience a company provides to its customers.
It is often seen that in organizations that have high-performance cultures, employees show a better understanding of the company's strategic priorities and the corresponding management values that help achieve these objectives. In the case of high-performing cultures, there is a significant implication, because it is difficult for the employees to support the strategy and vision of the business if they do not value it as an ‘organization.' The employees need to know and understand management values to help achieve the desired results and improve the culture of the company.
Let us take an example of these cultural changes goals. For any IT-based or software company, employees are mostly focused on delivering and improving software with enhanced technical design. This is done to improve the overall experience of the customer. Any technical improvement you make, while it is essential, will not be as appreciated by the customer as much as you are focusing on their experience. Here, the cultural disconnect forces the employees to focus on the technical aspect of the software rather than the qualitative aspects.
In this case, customers will appreciate the overall experience, not just the functions of the software. The perception of value will be based on how they interact with the provided software and how they can get the help. In this example, the culture allows the employees to focus on how the software is made, not about improving the customers' experiences.
How Do Customers Describe Cultural Changes In The Workplace?
One of the most critical aspects of how cultural changes factors are relative to the performance of a business is how it translates across the target audience, i.e., your customers. Logically, you need to find how customers look at the culture of your organization. Experience is very noticeable for you as a customer when you engage in business with a company that wants to create the best experience. In terms of these organizations, you will continuously experience excitement and passion because it is a part of the organization's identity. These experiences result from any company's culture that cares for its audiences and understands which values are the highest.
If you cannot understand your business's cultural changes process, you will not know how it can affect your customers. For what it is worth, the culture of any organization will represent its predominant attitude. Therefore, statements like ‘this is how things are done here' can become something hard to go up against.
How Do You Introduce Changes To The Work Culture?
Applying cultural changes at work is a daunting task. It is because any organization has interconnected and intricate parts like job roles, corporate and strategic goals, core values, business processes, corporate attitudes, communications, business policies, etc. These are just some of the components tied together to form the fabrics of culture and cannot be changed individually. Instead, you will require a more holistic approach.
We need to look at the cultural changes management today; culture will always create its own path through the various aspects of the business, like the policies, practices, etc. Any minor changes you make will instantly be swept away by the more vigorous cultural rituals that already exist. While it does not mean that you cannot be successful in changing the culture, the process will only bear results if there are disruptions in the normal course of things. You need to introduce changes to all the elements of your organization. You cannot simply take a single action; you need to orchestrate big and small changes that will help break the monotony and allow new niches to open up.
Final Thoughts
It is true that cultural changes grow your business. Your goal should be to improve the culture so that there are more performances. We would want our associates to be ethical, create value for the target audience, avoid waste, and be responsible and dedicated. Leaders need to model this behavior in themselves first to encourage their employees to do the same.
What’s your take on this? Let us know in the comments!
Author Bio
Chris Delgado is an experienced entrepreneur who started investing in the real estate business in 2015. He has had hundreds of employees and knows the ins and outs of company culture.