Tag: culture

Culture as the Gatekeeper to Success…

Kalani Iwi'ula

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Thank you to all who attended and contributed to this engaging panel discussion, “Culture as the Gatekeeper To Success: Realize, Reorganize, Run With It”!

Culture can be seen as a gatekeeper to driving success in organizations of various types and demographic profiles. Organizational conditions shape members’ understanding of the expected ways to behave at work, thus creating the overall culture. The resulting shared expected behaviors govern effectiveness criteria, such as creating fruitful policy, formulating purpose, and overall effectiveness, including innovation. The challenge for change agents and managers is discovering how to uncover and manage the change process, given members’ different identities, values, and ethnic backgrounds. 

To address this challenge, panelists discussed their experience with various organizational environments, specifically a not-for-profit in the process of succession planning, a police department under pressure to rebuild trust in the community, an organization expanding globally, and organizational culture measurement and application, specifically the Organizational Culture Inventory® (OCI®). 

The panelists took part in a formal, moderated, interactive discussion of (1) the importance of culture in driving outcomes within organizations; (2) the panelists’ personal research experience that demonstrated culture being a barrier or potential enabler to action; (3) the relationship between culture and the mission; and (4) how each variable was interconnected with the others, particularly in how organizational factors contributed to a desirable organizational culture. They did this by discussing how they became aware that culture needed to be addressed (Realize), how they accepted the realities and determined interventions (Reorganize), and the actions that took place (Run With It).

Robert A. Cooke, Ph.D., CEO of Human Synergistics International and Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was one of four panelists on this discussion. A renowned expert in organizational development, he has developed widely-used surveys for individual, group, and organizational assessment, including the Organizational Culture Inventory® and Leadership/Impact®. Dr. Cooke’s nationally-supported research on management and organizational change has been broadly published and recognized with multiple awards. Drawing from his experiences at educational institutions and with corporate clientele, Dr. Cooke continues to influence our understanding of organizational culture and leadership effectiveness. In July 2024, he presented “Using AI for Culture Transformation” to discuss the application of artificial intelligence in helping leaders and teams make informed decisions about cultural change.

The Journey of Improvement is Continuous

Kalani Iwi'ula

In today’s ever-evolving workplace, adaptability is crucial—not just a welcomed advantage, but a fundamental necessity for staying relevant and thriving. Achieving success goes beyond just sketching out goals and strategies; it’s about consistently reviewing our progress and adjusting our sails as needed. Developing constructive leaders, fostering unified teams, and nurturing an achievement-oriented organizational culture are now essentials, not just goals. It’s all about taking a proactive approach to improvement, ensuring we’re not just setting targets but actively monitoring and refining our journey towards success with every step we take.

This post dives into the critical, yet often overlooked, step of remeasurement in an organization’s development process and examines how planned remeasurement can drive improvements benefiting both individuals and organizations.

The Importance of the Remeasure

Remeasurement serves as a bridge between where we are and where we aim to be. The process recognizes clear signs of improvement while pinpointing areas that require further fine-tuning. By reviewing and comparing initial assessment results against remeasure assessment results, leaders and organizations can ensure that their development strategies are yielding the desired outcomes and make informed decisions about what comes next.

Encouraging Sustained Progress

Remeasuring isn’t just about monitoring progress; it’s about instilling the importance of continuous improvement within an organization. This approach shifts the focus from achieving fixed goals to nurturing an environment where learning, development, and growth are ongoing processes. It aligns leadership approaches with individual and organizational objectives ensuring that each endeavor contributes to an overarching vision of success.

Throughout my consulting career, I’ve seen the positive impact of integrating a remeasurement process into client strategies. The approach not only empowers clients to take ownership of their change journey, but also ensures their continued growth.

~Roxanne Ray, Senior Consultant, Human Synergistics

Strategies for Effective Remeasurement

To leverage the full potential of remeasurement in developing leaders, individuals, teams, and organizational cultures, consider the following strategies:

  1. Set Clear Benchmarks: Begin with clear expectations and establish specific, measurable objectives. This clarity forms the basis for effective remeasurement and adjustment.
  2. Establish a Cadence: Incorporate remeasurement at the onset and into the regular rhythm of your organizational processes. Once every two years – with at least one pulse in between – ensures that progress is continually monitored and addressed.
  3. Foster Transparent Communication: Open communication helps in recognizing accomplishments and areas for further development, which is essential in the change process, whether it’s an individual leadership assessment or an organization-wide assessment. This transparent approach can make the reassessment process more relevant and actionable. Consider cultivating an environment where feedback is not only encouraged but actively sought.
  4. Utilize Proven Tools: Implement proven methodologies like the Human Synergistics’ Circumplex and range of assessments to dramatically enhance the impact of your development strategies. Embracing Constructive styles aligns you and your team with time-tested practices to support change initiatives locally, regionally, and even globally. This approach nurtures an environment where positive behaviors thrive and leads to a more vibrant and effective organizational culture.
  5. Enlist Experienced Help: With the right expertise, navigating the complexities of culture change turns seemingly impossible challenges into opportunities. Whether you want to boost the effectiveness of your internal consultants or gain insight from an external expert, a network of accredited practitioners can facilitate your remeasure process and guide you through the intricacies of growth.

For organizations looking to develop their internal capacity, we provide comprehensive accreditation in our models and tools, ensuring your in-house team not only understands the path forward but excels in guiding others along.

For those looking outside your walls, our broad network spans industries, states, and even international borders, ensuring a match with consultants who bring expertise and an understanding of your culture and language nuances, regional specificities, and unique challenges.

In my experience, remeasurement is foundational for lasting change. It acts as both a reflection and a compass, revealing the organization’s progress and guiding members towards their long-term aspirations.

~ Mary McCullock, Senior Consultant, Human Synergistics

Moving Forward

Integrating the remeasure process into your development strategies ensures continuous improvement and alignment with broader objectives. This structured approach celebrates progress, identifies growth prospects, and equips leaders and teams with the insight, agility, and resilience needed to refine their organizational goals.

Call to Action

Are you on course towards organizational success? How can you be certain? Discover how remeasurement can guide you in realigning, refocusing, and revitalizing your organization’s future. Contact us to learn more.