What is organizational culture?
Organizational Culture is defined by the patterns of behavior strengthened or weakened by people or systems over time.
Why is organizational culture important?
What people in the organization say and do, whether intentional or not, has an impact on the culture. Organizational cultures are organic. They require attention to mature. Productive cultures can sour. If the culture is neglected, you often will hear employees say, “this place isn’t the same anymore.”
Undoubtedly, corporate culture can have a profound impact on performance, customer service, employee morale, and retention.
What are common organizational culture problems?
Without clear direction or motivation, employees can become disengaged and unproductive.
Cliques and silos can form, shutting down cooperation, timely communication, and inclusion.
High turnover can lead to skill deficits, overworked employees, and errors.
Employees can become stuck in the old ways of how work was done and resist change.
Results-at-all-cost pressures can lead to safety shortcuts and unethical behavior.
Management by exception can lead to employees to hide mistakes and do just enough to stay out of trouble.
Misalignment of goals, organizational systems, and management practices can discourage desired behavior.
How does ADI identify strengths and improvement opportunities in a culture?
Our analysis begins with a culture survey. This survey gives employees a voice. The survey results reflect employees’ perceptions of the strengths and improvement opportunities in the current culture. We follow up the survey with site assessments. The safety culture survey gives us focus and a breadth of understanding while the site assessments provide further clarity and depth of understanding. The survey and assessments work together to identify the factors that are promoting or inhibiting the desired culture and organizational performance. We then define the gap between where the organization is and where it wants to be.
How does ADI help organizations improve their culture?
Whether the gaps are large or small, ADI works with organizations to close them. We do this by shaping and aligning leadership practices, processes, and systems so they intentionally and systematically encourage behavior patterns consistent with the desired culture. ADI offers the tools and support needed to help organizations build a strong and positive, high-performing culture:
Follow-Up Consulting – Behavioral expertise to support the refinement of systems, processes, and management practices based on the survey/assessment results.
Behavioral Roadmapping – Pinpointing desired outcomes and the aligned critical behaviors that must occur at each organizational level to produce those outcomes.
Behavioral Leadership Training – Two-day facilitated education workshop to prepare leaders to implement the behavioral roadmap.
Follow-Up Coaching – Positive accountability and skill-building with leaders to ensure successful implementation of the roadmap and improvements to the culture.
