Corporate culture is not just a way of working, but a crucial factor in achieving performance and retaining talent. Recent studies show that an inclusive culture can significantly enhance employee engagement and productivity. Today, based on McKinsey’s analysis, we introduce 5 bold strategies to quickly transform your organizational culture. These strategies will help increase employees’ sense of belonging and maximize performance.
1. Show, Don’t Just Tell
The first step in cultural change is action, not words. Leaders need to show employees the future possibilities beyond short-term goals. Storytelling can be used for this purpose. For example, an aerospace company allowed its employees to visit other excellent companies to gain new insights. This provided employees with a space to unleash their creativity and gain new experiences beyond their daily tasks.
Leaders must show employees future possibilities and provide space for creativity.
2. Encourage Voluntary Participation
For successful change, employees must participate voluntarily. For instance, a healthcare company used a social contract to clearly communicate the goals of cultural change to doctors and encouraged their voluntary participation in achieving these goals. This gained employees’ trust and made them leaders of change.
Encourage employee participation through social contracts and role models.
3. Implement Comprehensive Changes
[It is necessary to boldly change the organization’s daily practices. For example, a retailer improved performance by introducing new meeting norms and reorganizing into customer-centric teams. Such changes are essential for effectively executing the organization’s strategy.
Redefine reward systems, ways of working, and time to reinforce changes and develop new practices.
4. Build a Network of Change Agents
Use influential individuals to drive change within the organization. A financial services company recruited volunteers as change agents and allowed them to lead changes within the organization. This enabled them to experiment with new behaviors that enhanced the organization’s value creation capabilities.
Identify influential people and build a network of change agents.
5. Don’t Forget the Personal Aspect
Support employees to bring their true selves and achieve their best performance. Recently, many companies have introduced various programs for employee welfare. This helps improve employee productivity and engagement.
Focus on cultural improvement efforts aimed at employee welfare.
Importance of Inclusive Culture
An inclusive culture is essential for talent acquisition and performance enhancement. Employees seek a sense of belonging and purpose, which can increase engagement and productivity. Failure to meet these needs can lead to performance decline and increased turnover.
Actively implement the above 5 strategies to build an inclusive culture and maximize your organization’s performance. It’s time to start the change for better results in your organization.
Reference: McKinsey, “Five bold moves to quickly transform your organization’s culture”