The preponderance of stories about bullying, toxic cultures and employee dissatisfaction, is testament to the need for organisations what ever the size to conduct regular reviews.
Reviews are often seen as laborious and painful processes and unless imposed by external compliance requirements there may be a tendency to avoid this process. Focusing on strategy and forward planning may seem like a more productive pursuit. The problem comes when embedded problems are not dealt with.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of recent examples that highlight what can happen if the focus on behaviours and culture is non-existent.
Leaders need to take culture seriously. Renowned management expert, Peter Drucker famously said “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Strong cultures support strategic growth and can tolerate change initiatives. A poor culture can derail the started strategic objectives of an organisation and sabotage any attempt at transformation. This why we sometimes see a misalignment in the strategy and policy documents of an organisation and the way people experience the organisation.
Here is a simple framework to start a review of culture. The CANE method is straightforward and can be used collaboratively in house or you can work with DDC to help with your review.
Check in with your values and vision.
Assess where you are in relation to behaviours, procedures and policies.
Note critical discrepancies.
Explore what changes need to be made.
There are many types of organisational reviews, but they should all result in a thorough assessment of the state of critical components of an organisation. It’s good practice to do regular reviews and audits to check areas that can expose the organisation to risk.
