Is your company cuture preventing you from achieving your transformation?
Corporate culture, often perceived as an abstract concept, is of fundamental importance.
It is the set of values, beliefs, norms, behaviours, and traditions that define the identity and DNA of an organization or company. Culture has a profound influence on the way employees interact, make decisions and work together.
There is a wide variety of corporate cultures. Some value creativity, exploration, autonomy and risk-taking, while others favour compliance with rules, respect for authority and strict adherence to laws, rules and procedures. It’s not uncommon for different cultures to coexist within the same company, although rarely within the same team. Culture shapes the rules for recruitment, procurement and performance appraisal, and those who don’t conform will eventually leave.
When it comes to transformation, thinking outside the box and challenging the status quo are essential. However, in compliance-driven businesses, it can be difficult to get managers and employees to question existing norms and explore new possibilities. These difficulties can severely limit the scope for transformation.
This is where corporate culture can prove to be a major obstacle to innovation and transformation.
The longer the company has been culturally stable, the more difficult it is to change attitudes and behaviours in order to consider new approaches. Challenging deeply rooted values and habits is not easy.
Individuals who tolerate ambiguity and favour creativity and collaboration may find it difficult to adapt to environments that favour certainty, conformity and authority, and vice versa. Asking people chosen for their sense of respect for rules and authority to become champions of innovation is often counterproductive.
If management doesn’t force the right conditions to attract and retain people with different profiles, the company runs the risk of simply recycling its existing model under a new appearance. This may give the illusion of transformation, but in reality, it’s often a matter of superficial and ephemeral change.
To truly transform and innovate, you need to go beyond accepted conventions. You need to surround yourself with people who bring different perspectives and are authorized to question the established norm. This can be particularly difficult when the company operates within a strict regulatory framework, as is the case in the public sector.
Have you faced or are you facing such a challenge?
© Eric Magnan, Pragmatik Advisory Services Inc, 2023
About the author:
Eric Magnan is a career consultant who founded Pragmatik Advisory Services in 2005. Since the late ’80s, he has assisted some 30 private and public companies through more than 70 missions aimed at adopting new technological solutions or new ways of working based on digital technology advances. He holds several professional certifications, which he puts down to good use for his customers through mission-driven commitments tailored to their context, constraints and needs.