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Success
Starts
with
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Culture
Consulting
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Every
organization has a culture.
Some
cultures are great places to work, some
are awful.
Do
you really think that great cultures
happen by chance?
Guess
which organizations do better in the
marketplace?
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Benefits
of a well managed culture:
- Conflicts
are handled swiftly and skillfully.
- Ideas
flow more smoothly.
- Employees
enjoy - and brag about - working in such
environments.
- Turnover
is reduced.
- Inter-team
cooperation is enhanced.
- High
profile probelms are prevented.
The first step toward creating
a culture that is the envy of your industry
is to assess your current culture.
Why
assess your culture?
There
are some things your current culture does
very well. It is crucial to specify these
strengths.
The
current culture probably has some vulnerabilities.
It is crucial to know what these weaknesses
are and to correct them - especially in today's
litigious environment.
Other
reasons to assess your culture:
- Sometimes
you need hard numbers to validate
a feeling you have that something is not
quite right with a team, department, or
company culture.
- A
company that cannot demonstrate a culture
that focuses on caring for and developing
people isn't competing for top talent.
- A
poor culture will result in a poor work
life experience for a company's people,
which in turn will result in higher turnover
- and the cost of re-training people
in key positions, and the brain drain
that comes because the new person doesn't
know quite as much as the one who left.
- It
is hard to have a finger on the pulse
of every pocket and team in the organization.
- Today,
more than ever, employees have a choice.
And given a choice between a wonderful place
to work and a less-than-optimal place to
work, how will most people choose?
- Companies
are being held legally responsible for
the workplace environments they maintain,
making it an essential component of running
any business.The smart organization keeps
close tabs on its corporate culture to make
sure the best mechanisms are in place to
spot and repair problems before they escalate.
But
most of all, assessing one's culture is crucial
because there is no reason to sap the spirit
of the people because of a poorly designed
work environment.
It's
bad for morale. It's bad for people. It's
bad for business.
Click
here to
begin your free organizational culture assessment.
What
is a culture anyway?
There
are many long, complex definitions of a culture.
Here's
a simple one: A culture is "the way we
do things around here."
It
is the usually unwritten, unofficial, "in
the trenches" ways that things get done
in an organization. It influences the relationships
between people and teams.
It
can make or break a team, a project, even
an entire organization.
Cultures
form whenever a group of people are together
for any length of time.These cultures evolve
as a function several factors, including:
- The
personalities of the group members.
- The
circumstances of their being together.
- The
interactions they must have with other groups.
Cultures
will evolve organically over time; but that
doesn't mean that they can't also be consciously
shaped.
In
fact, when groups consciously decide on the
kind of culture they want, there is usually
greater focus, more unity, and more effectiveness
in accomplishing group-determined goals.
Of
course, there will be differences among group
members which, if not handled well, can cause
difficulty. Diversity awareness programs were
developed specifically to provide skills in
handling those differences skillfully.
Why
is culture important?
Because
the wise organization won't leave the evolution
of its workplace environment to chance. The
most important asset of any organization is
its people, and nothing affects the day to
day lives of your people more than the culture
in which they work.
So
design the best, most effective cultural environment
for your enterprise.
Let
us help.
Our
goal is to create the kind of workplace environment
that not only succeeds in the marketplace,
but which can make your organization a joy
to be a part of.
Why
The Carter Group, Inc?
We
have assembled the best of the best. Our consultants
are leaders in their fields. Their expertise
not only includes organizational culture,
but also:
- Assessment
surveys.
- Success
and progress measurement software.
- Goals
and objectives clarification.
- Focus
group facilitation.
- Team
building Return On Investment (ROI) metrics.
- Interpersonal
skill building.
- Visioning
and values clarification.
- Diversity
Awareness training.
- Conflict
Resolution training.
Our
passion is to create workplace environments
that not only succeed in the marketplace,
but which makes a person feel proud. Proud
of that organization. Proud of the work they
do, proud of the day they've spent doing it,
proud to be a part of the team which gets
it done.
Here's
how the assessment process works:
| 1. |
Where
are we now? |
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a. |
We
identify the current culture of your organization.
Through focus groups, interviews, review
of existing documentation and other remains,
we begin to develop a picture of where
your organization stands relative to your
desired goals.
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| 2. |
Where
are we going? |
| a. |
We
work with you to ascertain the kind of
culture you want within your organization.
We help clarify the goals, values, and
desired work environment of the organization. |
| b. |
Based
upon the Principle of Relationship Management
© model for sustaining healthy cultures,
we also suggest a few elements of the
culture that you may want to consider
including in your target culture.
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| 3. |
How
will we get there? |
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a. |
We
perform a gap analysis on the desired
/ current cultures. |
| b. |
We
provide recommendations for: |
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i. |
How
to sustain the strengths of your organization. |
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ii. |
How
to improve on the weaknesses of the organization. |
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iii. |
How
to measure progress. |
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iv. |
How
to ensure long term follow-up on the desired
culture. |
| c. |
The
recommendations may take several forms,
including: |
| i. |
In-depth
analysis of problem areas discovered through
the culture assessment process. |
| ii. |
Suggestions
for high impact, easily implemented changes
where possible. |
| iii. |
Policy
adjustments to reinforce key cultural
practices. |
| iv. |
Training
/ workshops for skill-building. |
| v. |
Accountability
systems. |
| vi. |
Implementation of ongoing "check-in"
mechanisms. |
| vii. |
Communication
improvements. |
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viii. |
Review
of incentive / disciplinary systems to
ensure that desired culture habits are
being reinforced.
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| 4. |
Have
we arrived? Measuring success and progress. |
| a. |
We
work with you to develop metrics that
make sense, and which can let you know
that progress is being achieved. |
| b. |
The
specifics of these metrics vary from organization
to organization, but in our experience
creating measurable feedback systems is
crucial.
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| 5. |
Are
we still on course? Continuous improvement
mechanisms. |
| a. |
We
firmly believe that there should be mechanisms
in place that enable an organization to
continuously find ways to improve their
culture. This enables the organization
to remain creative and nimble, while still
preserving the core infrastructure that
facilitates an outstanding work environment. |
| b. |
We
work with you to install this infrastructure,
so that the organization is structured
to monitor, diagnose and repair itself.
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| 6. |
Transfer
of skills. |
| a. |
Our
consultants will work with the personnel
of any organization who requests it to
help improve: |
| i. |
Culture
assessment skills. |
| ii. |
Culture
diagnostic skills. |
| iii. |
Development
of recommendations. |
| iv |
Development
of metrics. |
| v. |
Development
of continuous improvement mechanisms. |
| b. |
In
this way, the client organization will
always have the in-house resources they
need to make sure the culture remains
on track.
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| 7. |
Okay,
I'm ready. What's the next step?
There are two options. |
| a. |
The
first step is to identify current strengths
and vulnerabilities in the culture. The
free Cultural Assessment survey is a great
way to start that process. Here's how
it works: |
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i. |
Fill
out the form here
to receive the survey. |
| ii. |
Complete
the survey. |
| iii. |
Send
the survey form to other members of your
organization, selected at your discretion.
We wait three days for all responses to
come in. |
| iv. |
After
three days, we take the information contained
in those results and start analyzing the
data. |
| v. |
Then
we talk to you, and review the results.
We'd discuss your perceptions and ideas
for where things are, and where they need
to be, and begin to develop a strategy
for specific, cost-effective ways to move
the culture in a positive direction. |
| b. |
If
you aren't sure people will respond to
the survey promptly, or you want to expedite
the process, we can begin with a preliminary
needs assessment conversation. Here's
how that works: |
| i. |
We
schedule a time to talk to you. We will
discuss: |
| 1. |
How
the organization might feel about undertaking
a culture assessment initiative. |
| 2. |
Where
you feel the organization's strengths
and weaknesses are. |
| 3. |
The
specific constraints you're working under. |
| ii. |
We'd
then develop a strategy for determining
the target or desired culture, the current
culture, and the gap analysis / recommendations.
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| 8. |
Let's
Talk! Please contact
us or get started with our free Culture
Assessment here. |
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| Contact
us to begin assessing the culture in your
organization. |
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