Culture Change - The Opening Move

At times, culture change has been likened to a chess game. Your opening move sets up your whole strategy and says a lot about how well you will do. The bottom line is how you launch your culture change is critical. Here are some rules to remember when planning your opening move:

1. Make it an event. Give employees plenty of notice that something new and wonderful is coming. Do not give them too much detail ahead of time. This is like the marketing we talked about in the “Creating Your Corporate University”. Tease the event, but most importantly, make it an event. Hype it up and get them excited for the day.

2. Theme the event. All great team efforts had a rallying cry or slogan. The most important part of your advertising campaign for your company is your tag line. Why? Because it constantly reinforces who you are and what you sell.

3. Put something tangible in their hands day one. This is a very common mistake companies make. They hold tremendous pep rallies with all the pyrotechnics and live music, but do nothing more than give speeches about the future. This event must be different from anything else they have experienced before if you want it to succeed. When Bell Atlantic started its drive to culture change, they created a set of values for its new service culture called the “Bell Atlantic Way.” This was printed on a card and given to every employee along with the pomp and circumstance.

4. Do not expect ANY changes from your event launch. Wouldn’t you be skeptical if you were your employees? It will take time to program your service culture. Prepare for this in advance. Do not be discouraged if two days after your launch everything seems back to normal. It should be. Two months after the launch, well that’s another story.

5. Have a plan for your next five moves already in place before you launch. Many companies launch well, but they get caught up in the day-to-day activities and start to let the culture change initiative slow. Prepare in advance, the first five moves you will make, including your culture training classes; your restructuring of positions if necessary; your vocabulary change; any signage that needs to change; and your training program to communicate your product, vision, mission, and service formula. (Do not try to do the latter all in one class!)

6. MAKE SURE PEOPLE/HUMAN RESOURCES IS INVOLVED! We cannot stress this part enough. The laws of today’s land favor the employee, even in the so called “at will” employment states. When you make the decision to cut someone from the team, make sure you do it following the proper processes. The cuts are not immediate in all cases (although your decision to cut the person is immediate). Make sure you have all of your documentation in place and all of your bases covered. The last thing you need is a wrongful termination lawsuit! The distraction alone will cost you the culture change – not to mention the financial hardship when you lose. By involving your People/Human Resources (Casting) team, you get a partner to make sure that you cover all of your bases. They know the laws and, better yet, they know what will really happen regardless of the law. Use them, but do NOT let them scare you off your path. Always focus on BEHAVIOR and you’ll be fine.

7. SPEED. SPEED. SPEED. Gradual change may seem like the right way to go, but trust us, you will lose. Keep your pace up and rolling and do not let the negative third derail you, as they will try. Never let the bus drop below 55mph!